Chapter 2: The Arrival
"We are near Imladris, Legolas," said Ranwe. "Perhaps about twenty minutes away."
Mirkwood held pride in their princes. Prince Thalos was respected and honored as a humble and mighty warrior who made wise decisions and treated everyone with equality. Nothing was too difficult for him. But the truth was, that Mirkwood probably took care of Prince Legolas the most. He was a favorite, everybody had to admit. Outside his rough shield of being the best archer, Legolas was a kind, gentle person who made friends with anybody. He had been a ray of sunshine, and could make a smile appear in anybody: from a warrior coming back from war to a kitchen maid. Although that was before anything happened, yet still...he was slightly favored. And his good looks made the elven maidens try not to faint. But despite all of this, most of the people from Mirkwood called Prince Legolas in a more casual way, or just Legolas.
"That is good, hannon-le, Ranwe," said Legolas nodding and he looked back. "Does anybody want to rest before we reach Imladris? We have been riding for hours and I would appreciate your honesty."
More than half of his company decided that one quick rest, no more than five minutes, would be enough for them. So Legolas and his elves let the horses roam in the nearby hilly grasses to feed themselves (an elf never tied up an animal, they trusted the animal) and they sat down under the trees of Imladris.
"By Valar, Legolas," grinned his other guard, Onilal. "You are obsessed with trees...it seems impossible to get you out of them once you sit on one."
Legolas grinned. His guard was made of six people, including Onilal and Ranwe. They had been assigned to guard Legolas with their lives and had also helped raise Legolas up in his early years. "We do live in a place surrounded by trees...I did not know what you expected."
His guard allowed a light laugh and the chatting resumed. Legolas leaned back from the noise and comforted himself for a few minutes of rest in the tree.
Mae govannen, Greenleaf. We have heard much from you from the trees of Great Greenwood. I have yet not heard trees that could boast so much. Yet their boasting ends in truth. We welcome you here in Imladris.
Legolas smiled and straightened up. Talking to trees had been one of his hobbies...trees were sometimes more sophisticated than elves. It was something his-his Nana had taught him when he was young. It was one of the only things that he had left from her and it was sort of like remembering her. Besides, the trees had always been one of his dearest friends.
I thank you for your kindness, great trees of Imladris. Your compliments gladden my heart. I have heard much about you as well. Your beauty is outstanding.
Your courtesies have been well-taught, young prince. Do you wish to hear our council?
Legolas frowned. Council about what? Of course great trees, your words are wisest. Tell me your good council and I will hear it well.
You will meet trouble ahead.
What kind of trouble, great trees?
Orcs. There is a band of orcs I hear, about ten minutes away from you. You are not their target, however, you might intercept them to go to Imladris. You will intercept them.
Legolas didn't like this. He hadn't even reached Imladris and there was trouble. Orcs...ugh, those nasty filths. How many of them?
I am not sure, child...I must check with the other trees. Yet, do you wish to fight them?
My choice depends on the amount of orcs, and I will choose the wisest way out of this trouble, said Legolas after some time. Could you please check with the other trees? I would be deeply in your debt.
Of course...I am trying. The results are not clear, Greenleaf, yet the trees ahead of you perhaps guess that it is a band from fifty to eighty orcs. We are not sure.
No, it is the best you have done and I am grateful for it wise trees. I thank you for your kind council.
Will you fight those orcs? I was told by the trees of Mirkwood that your father advised you to stay out of trouble.
Legolas grinned. The trees heard everything...he would make sure to be more careful. I will fight the orcs. It is naught. In Mirkwood, we can easily handle them and it is no difference here. We are strong warriors, great trees of Imladris.
We understand your abilities, little prince, yet we are afraid that perhaps one wrong step could lead to your corpse in our grounds. We would not like that.
Do not fear, said Legolas. For you will find naught of that.
Legolas stood up and all the thirty elf heads turned to him as he spoke. "There is a band of orcs ahead of us, about fifty to eighty of them. The great trees of Imladris have told me so."
There was a reigning silence until Drinfin, one of his guard looked at him. "Legolas, I understand that your respect for trees has been a childhood hobby. Yet, the Mirkwood trees were part of our lands! We could trust them! How can we trust these trees? They could be drunk, for all we knew!"
This brought a small snicker around the elves as they stood up, hands tightening around their weapons. Suddenly, the tree nearest Drinfin, moved a long branch and brought it down on his head, whacking it. This brought another smile around the elves and the forest echoed in their minds.
Drinfin Darfinion...you are unwise to call us 'drunk.' We, the great trees of Imladris have aided you today yet you show no sign of gratefulness.
After, Drinfin was forced to beg mercy and apologize to the trees, a scene where even Legolas, had to smile with. After the trees had stopped screaming at Drinfin and calmed down, Legolas told them his plan.
Legolas said, "Here is our battle strategy. Drinfin, you will be leading a troop of thirteen sword elves down that skinny path. You will have Mormiel and Driel to help you. You must hide and you will attack after we signal you. I will go through the trees with Ranwe, Onilal and Rielrom. Along with the rest of the archers. We will go closer to the band of orcs and we will shoot undercover. We will signal the fighters to attack when we finish shooting."
"And what shall the signal be?" asked an elf.
"You will see when the moment comes," said Legolas. "Now you heard what I said. Let's go."
Elrond was running around preparing for the Spring Festival. Things couldn't be handled by their own, you know? After having one long meeting following with complaints from the kitchens, Elrond finally sat down in his office chair.
Celebrian seemed to come out of nowhere, yet she was a welcoming sight as she sat down next to Elrond. "You seem stressed dear, do you need some tea?"
"That'd be lovely, hannon-le," he said as Celebrian poured some strawberry and mint tea on his cup and he drank slowly, trying to calm down from all his stress. "The Spring Festival has to be equally amazing this year...it always has but it's suffering a few problems. Some patrols from the south reported some orcs. The cooks are complaining about working too much and to top it all over, everybody has been telling me about the twins' pranks."
"The cooks have done a lot for us, they work day and night tirelessly," whispered Celebrian kindly. "They have the right to complain and the twins will always be jokesters...even when they reach more than a thousand begetting days. They will always be our Trickster Twins. And do not worry, Imladris will be safe from the orcs."
"Your words gladden me Celebrian," Elrond said kissing her. "However, what if the Spring Festival does not really result well?"
"I do not know why you worry Elrond," Celebrian smiled. "You have always done an excellent job at it, why do you put yourself so hard into this?"
"Why, don't you remember how we met?" smiled Elrond back.
"Of course I remember!" snapped Celebrian sounding insulted. "It was one of the best days of my life! We were in love at first sight! I begged to my mother to let me go so I could dance with you!"
"One of the best days of your life?"
"The best day was the day I was born," smiled Celebrian. "I'd thought you'd have more sense Elrond."
Elrond laughed when suddenly, Erestor burst through the doors sweating like a mop. His black hair was a tangled mess as his eyes frantically looked at Elrond, "LORD ELROND! There are orcs in front of the doors of Imladris. They are close to our people!"
Elrond excused himself from Celebrian, who looked quite worried and Elrond walked with Erestor. "How did they slip through the guards?"
"They killed them," said Erestor. "The warriors are already fighting in the courtyard right now. It's a band of eighty eight orcs. We seemed to have been the target...they were hiding well, Elrond, they took us by surprise."
"That hardly happens," muttered Elrond worriedly. It meant the orcs were now more clever...He unsheathed his sword in case, precautions had to be made when battle was happening. "I must go to the courtyard, NOW!"
They walked quickly to the courtyard where the scene was unraveling. The Imladris warriors were slender, fast and skilled so they held a better advantage against the orcs in fighting. Yet, the amount of orcs coming was increasing and for every orc dead, another one came replacing. And that's when Elrond went into battle. He slashed furiously and Glorfindel came to help too, but the orcs were starting to suffocate Elrond, surrounding him as he stabbed his way through. He couldn't even see Glorfindel's blond locks anymore. Elrond jumped up and dodged another attack as he stabbed through two orcs and killed them. He saw a few elven warriors in the ground and he sighed...death was something he did not like to see. Yet they were fighting well...he guessed they had killed about fifty orcs so far.
Then suddenly, it was as if a miracle had happened, ten orcs went down. And then ten more, ten more and ten more until there were about only ten left. The Imladris warriors look around shocked to see arrows sticking out from the dead orcs, despite the fact that they weren't armed with bows and arrows. That's when the elves came out from the trees and the sound of-wait, the chirping of a bluejay?
Well...the chirping of the bluejay came out and warriors came from both sides. That brought the Imladris warriors from the trance and they killed the remaining orcs. The warriors were clad with colors of green and wood-brown, wielding weapons with an incredible speed. In no time, the orcs had been wiped out and their bodies lay on the floor. Elves scrambled around, looking for their fallen friends. Elrond sighed and took a step back. He had a small cut in his hand and had a few drops of blood but otherwise, he was unharmed. He was still a mighty warrior. But...who were these unknown elves who had aided them? He quickly went to check on his elves before there was a booming shout.
It was Glorfindel's. His knee was gushing blood out dreadfully since an orc must have stuck something in his knee socket but it wasn't a shout of pain. It was a warning. "LORD ELROND, WATCH OUT!"
Elrond turned his head just in time to see one remaining orc alive, with a bow and arrow, his last arrow aimed at Elrond's head but before anybody could react, two arrows flew out of nowhere and they stuck perfectly between the orc's two googly eyes. It shrieked and fell back, dead, before he could even shoot his arrow.
Elrond turned to see the archer, an elf with his head covered in a hood. Next to him, were several guards standing next to him in a protective ring.
Suddenly, the archer took his hood off and smiled a small grin at Lord Elrond.
"Good morning Lord Elrond. My name is Legolas Thranduilion and I have come from Mirkwood for your so-called Spring Festival."
O-O-O
AN: Thank you for your lovely reviews! Gosh, five in a day? It means a ton to me guys, thanks! Anyways, here are some responses to them. Oh, oh! Does Legolas sound too perfect in this chapter? I want to make him gifted, not godly. I can take all the advice you can give me!
Black Minx 17: Thanks! I sure will! Besides, it's summer soon so that'll guarantee some more writing time for me!
Luin: I'm glad you liked the "trouble magnet" part! I'm so going to focus on Thranduil and Legolas' father-son relationship in the future…it's so interesting! I mean, it's like tough love.
Guest 1: Thanks! And it'll get better!
Guest 2: Despite the fact that I might not speak your language, I do speak Spanish fluently so I do understand you. Thank you for your compliments! I'm sure it's not perfect but I am so glad that you love it!
Guest 3: Once again, thanks!