Red and Autumn Gold

by Calthis

Tauriel and Legolas explore parts of Mirkwood they shouldn't be in, and make a discovery that will only hurt his father.

It had been a long summer but autumn was finally beginning to touch the trees of Mirkwood. The changes were subtle, only recognisable to those who had spent so many years living through them.
The thick green canopy seemed less dense, patches of light slipping through unbroken to the forest floor. Carpets of abandoned leaves grew thick underfoot, smothering the already quiet movements of forest dwellers as they continued their bustling preparations for winter. But the most obvious change for most was the colours. Dozens of green hues gradually gave way to the reds, oranges and yellows. It was still hard to see, only creeping in on the edges, but an elf's eyes never missed that kind of change.
Tauriel sat in the low branches of a thousand year old tree, her back against the cool bark and her unstrung bow across her lap. She watched several squirrels foraging through the undergrowth. Hopefully the long summer didn't catch them unprepared for winter. Her mother had always told her that a long summer hailed a terribly cold winter. Tauriel hadn't been alive long enough to know if that was true or not. At only 580 years old, she was among the youngest of the elven race.
Instinct pulled on her to look around to her left. She hadn't heard anything, just felt the arrival of the presence. Sure enough, there stood the prince of Mirkwood.
"So this is where you've been hiding" Legolas said, his voice laced with amusement. He walked along the branch between their two trees, stopping to stand in front of her.
"I'm not hiding."
"Are you sure?"
"I like to consider myself aware of what I'm doing at any given time, so yes, I am sure."
Legolas chuckled, sitting down on the branch with her.
"What brings you all the way out here?" Tauriel asked. Although the king didn't hold the reigns of his younger son quite as tightly as the Crown Prince's, she was still sure he wouldn't be too fond of him being so near the borders.
"I was looking for you. It seemed only logical to start in the places you weren't supposed to be."
"How well you know me."
Legolas laughed again, the sound bringing a smile to Tauriel's lips.
"I should hope I know you well enough after so many years. Now come, we should return to the palace" Legolas said. He got to his feet and offered Tauriel a hand up. She took it, though she had no intention of returning to the sombre palace when it was such a nice day outside. It was much better to take advantage of the sunshine while the weather was still offering it.
"Or we could go hunting."
Legolas grinned in the way that always made his father leave the room. "I was waiting for you to suggest that."
"Then why not suggest it yourself?" Tauriel asked, taking a moment to restring her bow.
"This way I don't have to take any of the blame if Adar gets angry at us" Legolas said, starting off through the trees. Both of them moved lightly over the thick interlocking branches, barely moving a leaf with their passing.
"You say that now but we both know that if the king does get angry as us, you will voluntarily take all of the blame."
"How well you know me."
Tauriel laughed and darted ahead of him, jumping to land on a branch a little further away. As they moved, the two of them naturally fanned out into a hunting pair. Close enough to see each other but distant enough that any possible prey in the area weren't made suspicious by a larger mass of movement. Legolas and Tauriel moved in silence like that for several minutes as they made their way away from the border. When he judged that enough distance had passed, Legolas moved closer and dropped down beside Tauriel. Although she never heard him coming, she still wasn't surprised by his sudden appearance.
"Are we hunting here?" Tauriel asked.
"It's as good a place as any. I haven't seen any traces of game though. Have you?"
Tauriel shook her head. "I think most of the large game is further south. That was the most recent report I heard."
Legolas considered. "How far south?"
"Almost on the border."
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to escape."
"If I were trying to escape, I wouldn't take you. Then your father would definitely send someone after us."
"I'm sure you'd be able to talk your way out of it" Legolas said, following a bird along with his bow before deciding against it and relaxing the string. "Adar is very fond of you after all."
"Is he?"
"He doesn't glare at you till you leave by the nearest exit so yes, he is very fond of you."
"That's the proof?" Tauriel asked a little incredulously. But then she considered it and had to nod in agreement. Thranduil wasn't the most affectionate of people – or rather, she had never seen him be affectionate at any point in his life, not even with his own sons.
"Maybe we shouldn't go that far when it's so close to dark" Legolas said.
"What's wrong with the dark? Still scared of it?"
"I was never afraid of the dark."
"That is not what Celendaran said."
"That was all out of context" Legolas said stubbornly.
"Your father's advisor tells the same story so I think they are more trustworthy than you."
Legolas made a noise of disagreement and stepped off the branch to land on the leaf-littered floor. Tauriel joined him a moment later.
"If there's nothing more to hunt, we should find something else to do. I don't want to go back to the palace just yet."
"There isn't much else to do. What's wrong with the palace?" Legolas asked.
"I just want to be outside in the trees. The colours are changing to autumn, did you notice?"
"You are so Sylvan" Legolas said with a teasing grin. "Always wanting to be outside and looking at leaves."
"Tease me all you like, you fell out of a tree."
"In my defence, I'm half Sylvan."
A thought suddenly struck Tauriel. "Oh! I know what we can do!"
"What?"
"Do you remember when I was very young, I found that cave but Celendaran said we weren't allowed to go in?"
Legolas had to think about it for several moments. Hundreds of years worth of memories was a lot to get through, especially when Tauriel was frequently told not to go into places – more of those places being dark holes than one would think.
"That one just outside the palace? It is nothing interesting, only a small drain for water."
"No, not that one. It was a real cave that went down into the rock."
Legolas thought again. "Oh, by the branch in the river?"
"Yes, that one. We should go see that again. I want to know what's in it."
"I see the dwarvish part of your soul is determined to surface."
Tauriel wrinkled her nose in disgust. "There is no dwarvish part of my soul."
"Then why do you always want to dig in the dirt?"
"Perhaps because it's far more interesting than conversation with you" Tauriel shot back, making him laugh.
"There's that charming wit again."
Tauriel fought the urge to roll her eyes at him. He was still the prince after all. She should show him some measure of respect – however small. Together, they walked towards the fork in the river. Since they were no longer hunting, they made no effort to keep their passing secret. Twigs and leaves cracked underfoot as their voices rang out in laughter and jokes. They remembered various times they had gotten into trouble – or almost gotten into trouble only to be saved at the last moment by Celendaran. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on who's side you looked from, Celendaran no longer watched them everywhere they went. They were free to get into as much trouble as they wanted. Not that they would ever admit to seeking it out, of course. As young elves, they got away with a lot more mischief. Unless Thranduil was the one to catch them.
Before long, they reached the fork in the river. The opening was bigger than Tauriel remembered. The mouth had widened enough to allow in a stream of the river, a carpet of moss spreading over the floor. In the nearby distance, she could hear the water dropping onto the rock.
"Is this the one you were thinking of?" Legolas asked, leaning over to look into the opening. He wrinkled his nose at the musty smell and felt his skin crawl at the darkness. The idea of going in made a rush of shivers wash over him.
"Let's go in" Tauriel said, not even looking at him before edging into the cave. She placed her feet carefully, taking care not to slip on the slick surface.
Legolas hesitated, watching as her red hair was swallowed up by the darkness. He swallowed, gripping his bow a little tighter, and reminded himself that he had to make sure she never got hurt. With that thought, and that thought only, in his mind, Legolas pushed past the cave opening and let the darkness swallow him up as well.
"Tauriel? Where are you?"
"Right here" she said, the voice coming from just behind him. It would have made him jump if he hadn't sensed her movement a half moment before.
"Why are you behind me?"
"I wanted to try and scare you. I forgot that never works" Tauriel said, a slight childish pout in her voice.
"No, of course it doesn't. I have better hearing than that."
"A pity your balance isn't as good as your hearing."
"I only fell out of a tree once."
"Twice."
"It was my mother who fell out of a tree twice. I only fell once" Legolas insisted. It was rather pointless. Tauriel would believe he'd fallen twice until the world ended or she was killed in battle – whichever came first.
"I'm surprised you know even that much about your mother. The king never talks about her" Tauriel said, still moving curiously down the cave, her hand resting against the wall to guide her.
"It was Celendaran who told me. Adar never mentions her, not to me."
Tauriel didn't answer. She never knew what to say when Legolas mentioned how absent his father was in his life. After his mother had died when he was only a baby, Thranduil had never been particularly interested in being around the children that always reminded him of her. She couldn't understand it, no matter which way she thought of it, so she tried not to think about it.
"How far into the cave are we going?" Legolas asked.
"As far as we can go" Tauriel said, before remembering that she was trying to be more respectful of the prince. Now that they were both adults, certain societal boundaries were beginning to form between them. "If you think we should."

Legolas raised an eyebrow at her addition. "I think we can go a little further. So long as the cave doesn't split into different paths, there's no danger of getting lost."
"When did you start worrying about getting lost?" Tauriel asked, teasing lightly.
"I think that happened right about when I matured."
"You matured?"
"Oh, you… be quiet" Legolas said, anything more clever to say eluding him. "Can you see anything at all?"
Tauriel peered forward through the gloom, her keen eyes able to pick out the vague details of their surroundings. It was entirely uninteresting. Rock walls and rocky outcrops stretched out until the next turn in the path.
"I can. But it isn't anything interesting."
"What were you expecting to find down here?" Legolas asked with some amusement. "Orcs? A balrog, maybe?"
"If we find a balrog down here, we will both be dead within moments."
"What a pleasant thought" Legolas said with a slight shudder. If he tried counting the number of times that his elder brother had tried to scare him with tales of balrog, he would quickly run out of fingers. The stories still worked.
"I should not have brought them up" Tauriel said regretfully. "Now all I can think about is a balrog appearing out of the depth roaring with fire spilling everywhere."
"Stop it" Legolas said. But it was too late. Now the images were fixed in his own mind and he found himself constantly listening and looking about himself for any signs of prowlers or threats lurking nearby. Everything suddenly became frightening and suspicious, but he pressed it down and hid it away. He could feel that Tauriel was also growing increasingly frightened by her own thoughts and knew that he had to keep himself calm and be the reasonable one of the pair.
"I can't stop now" Tauriel said. Whether she meant about thinking of scary stories or walking through the cave was difficult to tell – she continued to do both.
"Tauriel?"
"Yes?"
"I think we should go back."
"But we may have almost found something exciting."
"Or deadly."
"There can't be anything truly dangerous down here or Adar would have made sure it was dealt with."
"Then there is no reason not to keep going."
"Tauriel…" Legolas said tiredly. Constantly looking about was beginning to wear on his nerves. The darkness was brushing against his skin in wet feathery touches. He needed to be above ground, back in the fresh air, the light and the green.
"If you really want to leave, then I suppose we can" Tauriel said with a sigh. She stopped in her movements, turning to look for Legolas walking behind her. She saw his motion rather than his figure.
"Wait, what's that?" he asked, distracted as he looked over her shoulder.
"What is what?" Tauriel asked, but saw what he was referring to before he had a chance to answer. A small glow of light could be seen peeking out from around a corner. It was faded but bright – the light of the outdoors.
"A way out?" Legolas said.
"Perhaps. We should have a look" Tauriel said, newly determined to press forward. At the prospect of getting out into the light, Legolas had no arguments and followed her onwards.
Careful steps over the wet stone took them around the bend and suddenly they were blinded the light. It took several moments to adjust and realise that the light was coming from part of the ceiling that had collapsed. Rocks tumbled over the ground, blocking the flow of water to create a shallow pool across the entire ground. Dirt was scattered about and some plants had taken root as the tree roots dangled down like claws from the sky.
"Fascinating" Legolas said, craning his neck to look up at the opening above them. "I wonder when this happened."
"A long time ago by the looks of these plants growing down here."
Legolas nodded in agreement as he inspected them closer. The roots had well and truly taken hold, weaving down into the rock. "Impressive how they can cling to life down here. It definitely feels old."
"Older than you?"
"I am not that old, Tauriel."
"So that's a yes."
Legolas didn't dignify that with an answer. She was right and she knew it.
"Is it older than your father?"
"Of course it's not. It's hardly older than me."
"How can you know that? I look at it and all I see are plants that have been growing for a while."
"I'm a prince of Mirkwood" Legolas said with a shrug. "And I am older than you. Perhaps I just have more practise at this sort of thing."
"At least I am not as barbaric as the humans and need to chop down a tree to know how old it is."
"Not quite, in any case."
Tauriel gave his an exasperated look and nimbly ran up with pile of rocks. Under her leather boots, some of the dirt and smaller rocks shifting, cascading down in small showers of rubble. Legolas watched it with sharp, discerning eyes, his brow creasing when he noticed that the shifting pieces revealed that there was nothing behind it. He straightening up immediately.
"Tauriel, get down from there. Now."
Tauriel turned to look at him and sensed the movement beneath her only a moment later. As the unstable heap began to shudder, she quickly leapt clear. She disappeared from Legolas' sight on the other side of the rocks. They all shifts, some falling and rolling, trees twisting around and others disappearing into the center of the mound. The rumbling echoed about the cave like thunder, dying away in gradual rounds. Legolas waited until the sounds had disappeared entirely before calling out to Tauriel again.
"Are you hurt?"
"No. Well… not really" came the uncertain reply.
"You're hurt" Legolas said, feeling a slight pang of worry flare up in his chest. Skirting around the piles of rocks, he quickly made his way around to her side. It took him a moment to find her. She had fallen in the shadows and was obscured from view by a tree pining her down. "Tauriel, how hurt are you?"
"I think I'm fine. It won't be anything but bruises" Tauriel said, the calmness of her voice soothing his worries at once.
"Good. Stay still. I'll lift this off" Legolas said, setting his bow aside.
Tauriel nodded, doing her best to keep from tensing up. The pressure of a heavy branch against her stomach was making it harder to breathe, but she knew that tensing up would only make it more likely that she would panic. She had panicked while trapped before. It never ended well.
The shadow of Legolas loomed over her as he got hold of the thickest branches.
"Tell me if this hurts too much" he said before starting to pull it off her.
Tauriel grimaced, gritting her teeth as she felt the rough bark scrape against her skin. The thin tunic did nothing to protect her skin as she was sure that she would be bleeding. In an attempt to get through the pressure and discomfort, Tauriel gripped handfuls of the rubble around her. A moment passed by like forever, and then the weight was gone.
"There" Legolas said, shoving it out of the way and offering her a hand up.
She released the handfuls of dirt, plant material and rock. Most of it fell away when she reached up for Legolas' hand but one piece clung on determinedly, hanging from a few of her fingers. The metallic shine caught both of their eyes, drawing their gaze to it.
"Is that a…" Legolas started.
"A necklace" Tauriel finished for him. Pushing aside her curiosity for a brief moment, she let Legolas help her to her feet before inspecting it again. Preoccupied with the necklace, she didn't notice Legolas looking her over worriedly to assure himself she didn't have any injuries. "It's an elven necklace."
"Strange. I wouldn't think there'd be one so far down here. Perhaps it fell in when the ceiling collapsed" Legolas said, looking closer at the chain. It was an intricate pattern, a woven charm holding a pure white stone. "It looks old."
"I remember Naneth wearing something in this style. Someone must have lost it a long time ago."
"Are you going to keep it?" Legolas asked.
"Of course."
Legolas laughed a little. "We should head back before it gets too dark and Adar sends a search party."
"He can only send a search party if he actually notices that you're missing" Tauriel said, speaking without thinking as most of her focus went into putting on the necklace. The old clasp was different to the ones she was used to and took a moment to figure out.
Legolas clenched his jaw, the muscle in the corner twitching slightly.
"Sorry" Tauriel said the moment she noticed. "I shouldn't have said that."
"It's true though."
"That still doesn't mean I should have said it."
Legolas waved a hand to dismiss the entire conversation. "If I boost you up, you'll be able to pull yourself out and then help me out."
Tauriel nodded. "That will be the quickest way out."
It didn't take long for Tauriel to haul herself out after being lifted up. The dusk had fallen heavily over the forest but she felt safer in that darkness than she ever could in the black of the tunnels. Making sure she had a good footing, she leant down to give Legolas a hand. Once out of the cave, he straightened his clothing and sighed in relief.
"Let's not go back in there again."
"What if there's more jewellery down there?"
"No, Tauriel. I am not going back down there."
Tauriel nodded in surrender. "Yes, your highness" she said. It was only half teasing.
"And don't go there by yourself."
Tauriel sighed and nodded again. As curious as she was as to what else there was to find in the caves, she had little desire to get trapped there alone. "I won't."
"I have your word?"
"You do."
Satisfied with that, Legolas led the way back to the palace. The tunnel must have curved its way back there as it was much closer than he had thought. Before long, the palace loomed out of the trees, intertwined with the centuries old trees about it. Lights were beginning to appear in the rooms and even from their distance, the laughing and merry voices could be heard ringing out. A feast was already underway and would continue for most of the night.
"Do you want to clean up before going to the feast?" Legolas asked, drawing her attention to the fact that she was covered in dirt and smears of green from crushed leaves.
She looked down at herself in surprise at the state of her clothing before responding. "I definitely should. I'll meet you there."
Legolas gave her a smile and a nod before heading in the direction of the singing and music. She watched him go for a moment before heading on her own way.

Thranduil looked over as his younger son entered the hall, reclined back in his chair, a glass of wine in hand. In an instant, he saw the traces of forest marking Legolas' clothes and took note of the slightly dishevelled style of his hair. Clearly, the young elf had been out in the forest until late again. He said nothing until Legolas approach to greet him.
"Where have you been?"
"I was in the forest with Tauriel."
"And where is Tauriel?" Thranduil asked, still looking about the hall and swirling the wine in his glass as though his son wasn't even standing beside him.
"She went to wash and change before coming to the feast."
"I see you did not think to do the same."
"No, I did not. Sorry, Adar" Legolas said, ducking his head slightly.
Thranduil waved his hand. "No matter. Where did the two of you go to get so dirty?"
"We found a cave that led to a tunnel. A section of the roof had caved in so we ended up getting dirt and dust on us."
"A section of the roof caved in?" Thranduil repeated sharply, sitting up and looking over to Legolas for the first time. A small glimmer of worry passed briefly through his expression. Legolas didn't notice, looking around the hall himself as he looked for Tauriel.
"No, it had caved in some time before we were there. We simply disturbed it and a portion of it moved. It stirred up all the settled dirt."
"I see" Thranduil said, settled back into his former position, one leg hooked over the other. He gestured for his glass to be refilled.
"Is Celendaran not here?"
"He retired early. Your brother prefers his books to long parties."
"I know" Legolas said. Despite the large age gap, he had always gotten along well with his brother, more so once he had reached adulthood.
"You should go and get some food before the things you like are gone" Thranduil said, sipping his wine.
Legolas was almost tempted to ask his father if he even knew what his favourite foods were but was saved from that by the appearance of Tauriel. She always changed quickly, or maybe it just felt like quickly because he was always so relieved to see her again – especially when he was talking to his father. Thranduil softened slightly around her. He suspected that was because Tauriel might remind him of his mother. But he didn't know enough about her to know for certain.
Tauriel gave Thranduil a polite bow. "Good evening, your Majesty."
The faintest echo of a smile crossed Thranduil's lips. "Good evening. I hear you have been on an adventure today. I hope you were not hurt."
"I was not, thank you."
"That is good. You should be more careful."
"Yes, your Majesty" Tauriel said, keeping her eyes respectfully lowered. He may have raised her but the king still insisted on formalities.
"Go and eat" Thranduil said, dismissing them with a wave of his hand. The pair of them bowed their heads and turned to go. As Tauriel turned, Thranduil's eyes caught on the glimmer of shine around her neck. It was familiar and it took him only a heartbeat to place it.
"Tauriel, what is that?"
She turned back, brow creased with confusion. "Your Majesty?"
"Around your neck."
There was a strangeness to his voice that made her uneasy. All of a sudden, she felt compelled not to show him, but of course, she had to obey. Removing the necklace, she held it out to show him.
Thranduil gazed at it, nothing changing in his expression. There was no betrayal in his eyes of the sudden clench of pain that twisted about in his chest like a hot poker. It took him several moments to gain the steadiness of voice to be able to speak.
"Where did you get that?"
"In the forest. Well, actually it was in the cave Legolas told you we were in" Tauriel said, stumbling slightly over her words under his piercing blue gaze. "It was around some fallen rocks and I happened to pick it up."
"Give it to me" Thranduil said, extending a hand for it. She surrendered it immediately.
The king rose to his feet, setting down his white and curling his fingers about the delicate chain. Any openness about him that came with feasts was gone and he was once again icy.
"Neither of you are to go anywhere near that cave again, am I understood?" he said evenly.
"Yes, Adar."
"Yes, your Majesty."
With that, Thranduil left, his robes sweeping behind him, and soon he was gone from the hall. Legolas and Tauriel watched him go before exchanging looks of bewilderment.
"What was that all about?" Tauriel asked him.
"I wouldn't know" Legolas answered. He didn't know his father's mind. Not in the slightest.
She shrugged, more confused about the reaction than upset about the loss of her necklace. Through the crowds, she caught a glimpse of a few friends. "I should go say hello to them. I haven't seen them for a while" she said, waiting for Legolas to acknowledge that she had spoken before leaving him.
Legolas stayed at the feast for only a few minutes more before slipping away just as his father had – the only difference being that nobody took particular note of his departure. He was halfway towards his private bedchambers before changing course and going to his brother's instead. Lightly, he knocked on the door.
"Celendaran?"
"Come in, Legolas" came the response.
Celendaran was sitting at his desk, feet up on it with a large book sprawled across his lap. His pale brown hair was loose and his light clothing indicated that he was not long from going to bed. He looked up as Legolas came in.
"Why are you so dirty?"
"I was in a cave."
"You are so like Naneth" he said with some amusement in his voice.
"You always say that."
"That's because it's true."
Legolas took a seat across from Celendaran. "I'll take your word for it."
"I assume you didn't come here just to exchange pleasantries."
"No, I had a question. Adar acted strangely not too long ago. He was fine and then he saw a necklace that Tauriel found while we were in the cave. He took it from her and left."
Celendaran considered the information he had been given in his quiet way. "Where was the cave?"
"The fork in the river not too far south from here."
Celendaran was quiet again, but this time is was not because he was thinking. Instead, there was a slight sadness to his demeanour. "Then the necklace most likely belonged to our mother."
"Really?" Legolas asked. "Why would Naneth be in a cave?"
"Why were you in a cave?"
Legolas didn't have an answer to that.
"A long time ago, when I was still very young, Naneth and Adar went out into the forest to go hunting together. They found the cave and Naneth insisted on going in to explore. Of course, Adar couldn't let her go alone so he went as well. I don't know everything that happened but somehow she lost her necklace in there."
"You remember it well even if it was so long ago."
"I only remember because Adar pretended to be angry she had lost the necklace. It was gift from him for the hundredth anniversary of their wedding."
Legolas nodded, feeling the familiar emptiness of not having known his mother. The stories, though they gave her character, had so little meaning. It was like hearing stories of some distant relative or a figure from history.
"I am glad we found it then" he finally said after several moments of silence had gone by.
"I'm sure he is as well, though he is not very good at showing it."
Legolas nodded, falling into his thoughts as Celendaran fell back into his book. Together, they sat in silence, the firelight casting shadows over their faces well into the night.
Not too far away in the palace, Thranduil also sat in still silence. Sitting in a chair with his legs stretched out towards the fire, his pale skin was cast in the flickers of orange and yellow. The silver chain was tangled about his fingers, pendant resting warm against his palm as he held his fingers against his lips. The posture and stillness between him and his two sons was identical – but there was one glaring difference in their appearance. Every few moments, the firelight caught the shine of tears falling down Thranduil's face.