Previously on Chapter 2...
"He was met by a smugly grinning elf, who said, 'Well Estel, it seems that by the Valar, you shall be stuck with me for a while more.'"
Chapter 3
Estel glared at him, "Don't tell me you can control weather. I'm not in the mood."
Legolas laughed and Estel grunted at his cheeriness. The boy was feeling terrible; tired, hungry, worn out and still quite wounded, despite having bandaged most of his wounds. And now, he was stuck in this dumb cave with a random, strange elf who could just be an ax murderer in disguise for all he knew! Estel grunted, he was in that awkward position all because of one thing: the stupid rain. He sighed as he leaned back against the thick, jagged wall of the cave and looked out as the rain engulfed the surrounding landscape.
"Fortunately, I do not," said Legolas laughing as he found a nearby patch of wood branches and with one of his knives started slicing them into thinner pieces. "I do not possess any powers as do the Lady Galadriel or any of the Istari. I was never truly interested in that magical fuss anyways...it would require much reading I suppose and I simply dislike any activities involving sitting down quietly."
Estel would've normally asked a question but instead, he was taken back at the mention of Lady Galadriel. "You know who Lady Galadriel is?"
"Better, I have spoken to her face to face," Legolas said casually as his blue eyes were dutifully focused on his work. "But to answer your question, peredhil, yes, I know who she is. For mortal or elven, all creatures know of the fair Lady of Lórien's beauty and power."
"Daer-I mean, the Lady Galadriel does not speak to every elf she sees," noted Estel.
Legolas frowned and was about to open his mouth before he shut it again, as if he wanted to say something but thought not to. Not a few seconds after, he then responded, "Indeed."
"So why did she speak with you?"
"Um, well penneth...I had-I had business," said Legolas, his voice trailing off.
Estel took advantage of this. If he had Legolas in an awkward position, he would finally be forced to spill out his identity...although the young boy had no idea if it would serve him or if it wouldn't. But he knew Lórien so that didn't seem too bad for him so far.
"What kind of business?" he asked.
"Private business," said Legolas and at the end, in a rather stiff voice, "from the king."
"King?" asked Estel and frowned. Why had he never paid attention in the history lessons? Darn it, he could just hear Erestor scolding him right now for making paper airplanes and sleeping while he was supposed to be hearing his lecture about the elven kingdoms. However, as much as he thought, he could only think about one nation that currently had a king. "As in King Thranduil? You are from Mirkwood?"
Estel thought he had heard Legolas mutter something about Mirkwood being called something else before but he paid it no heed at the elf used his knife and sliced a mighty good chunk out of a stick, making Estel slightly gulp. The elf's voice had turned a bit darker too. "Yes."
"Oh," said Estel, taking the elf's warning. "So...what are you doing?"
This took a brighter toll on the elf who grinned, erasing the previous scowl from his face as he showed three thin sticks and explained what he was trying to do. "You see, I'm making arrows. I haven't made the arrowheads but you need to make the sticks or the base in order to have a shaft in which to stick the arrowheads in. And yes, I might go and hunt some birds for some decent feathers...besides, you look like you could need some of the meat."
"How are you going to make the arrowheads?"
"Rocks, perhaps some metal that some adan threw around. I have to make through," said Legolas and then engulfed Estel into a story in which he had been forced to make a weapon with only pineapples, leaves and a stick (a combination that turned out to be a pretty good maze, much to his surprise) fighting against a company of orcs. The boy found it easy to get lost in Legolas' story, for he was truly a good storyteller and he felt as if he himself had been inside the elf's adventure.
Obviously, he soon found out that Legolas' life was more exciting than his own. "How is it that you get all of these adventures?" he asked the elf curiously, after the blond had just finished telling a tale in which he had thrown himself out of a cliff into a river forty feet below just to escape a pack of wargs.
Legolas actually put his things down and rubbed his chin, frowning in thought as if he were truly doubting himself. "Actually...I dunno. Many reasons I suppose. I'm a trouble magnet. Or well, trouble seeks me. Erm, also...death really seems determined to get me into Mandos early. That and a few other factors I suppose."
"Like the fact that you aren't quite bright?"
This brought a laugh to the elf. "I suppose you are right but my sister prefers to call it recklessness and my brother calls it impulsiveness. However, that impulsiveness did save your life, you know. No being is so stupid to risk him or herself against orcs to protect a child they had never seen before."
"You have siblings?" asked Estel enthusiastically. He suddenly wondered how the twins were and he inwardly sighed, wishing he could be with them right now.
"Indeed I do but they are older than me," said Legolas with a small sigh at the end. "And therefore, that makes me the little baby brother of the family."
Estel could definitely relate.
"Don't they worry about you running around, though?" asked Estel and seeing Legolas' posture change into a more tense position added. "I mean, my brothers would kill me if I get one meter away from their sight, much less go on life-threatening journeys."
The elf chuckled, his posture still tense but a little lightened up as he leaned back on his own rock. "So you mean to say that you came on this little odyssey of yours without them knowing?"
Estel glared at him. "No..." and after watching Legolas' eyebrows raised, unconvinced, he sighed, "Well, maybe. That's all I'm going to say. What about you? I wouldn't think that your siblings would let their reckless and impulsive little brother out here in the wild of this random forest. Where are we anyways?"
Legolas looked back at Estel, his gaze neutral. The young boy was pretty impressed, spending time under Lord Elrond's influence, he could read people pretty well but Legolas was...well, Legolas. He was unpredictable. Sometimes he thought Legolas was going to explode with all the emotions that were bubbling inside him but sometimes Legolas was as noncholant as a rock.
"I have got my duty to do. And duty comes first before all," he said in a robotical voice, as if he were reciting from a manual. "And we are in a small forest, but a few leagues off the range of mountains that separate Eriador and Rhovanion. Honestly, I would've thought that if you didn't have enough sense to bring more weapons," he said, his witty tone returning as he eyed Estel's sword, which now lay on the young boy's lap, "you would've at least studied the directions to wherever you are going."
Estel snorted, pretending he hadn't heard the remark. "Whatever. Do you know a way out of this place? As I said before, I'll be on my way as soon as this wretched rain stops. I'm in a hurry."
"And a hurry where, may I ask?" asked Legolas, getting Estel on his nerves.
"Somewhere," snapped Estel.
"Look, penneth," stated Legolas, sighing. "It turns out that I am in a hurry as well. In fact, I would've in my location hours ago if I had let you to the mercy of those filths back there in the woods. But in my opinion, you should state where you are going...after all, I am sure I can think of a way to take you there much faster than whatever way you're thinking about right now."
"Are you calling me stupid?" asked Estel angrily, standing up, his hand now dangerously sitting on top of his sword's hilt.
"Not at all," said Legolas calmly, although he stood up as well. "I am calling you unexperienced." He took a few steps and stood in front of Estel, looking down at the stubborn-faced boy. He was frustrated that Legolas was taller than him by three full inches, making him look rather incompetent. "You obviously have not traveled far from your home before, and therefore, you did not plan well. For your clothing, you chose comfort over endurance, something that paid you dearly in your trek through the mountains. Leather would've been better than the wool you wear now, for it would've kept you warm in this rain and would last more through the battles you have fought-"
"How do you know I climbed the mountains?"
Legolas snorted. "Is there another way to get in this forest?" He then squinted at Estel. "You look naught like a child of the Rohirrim with their rugged complexions. You have the Gondorhim frame and yet you act with an air of nobility higher than those who dwell there. You have not chosen your disguise well, young traveler, for even the youngest of my race could see you come from the very west, from lands bordering Arnor and Eriador."
Estel was boiling. He could not be tolerated to be called senseless, foolish and inexperienced all in less than thirty minutes. "You do not disguise yourself well either. You are a Mirkwood elf, the darkest race of the three and kin of the Avari, the dark elves who sided with darkness when destruction came. What would you and your isolated kin know about the rest of the world?" he spat out at the elf.
"My kin are Sindar and Silvan elves! The purest and best of each kind!" the elf growled back. "We suffered the most when war and famine came. Our king, Oropher, was slaughtered along with two thirds of our army and our Greenwood crumbled into the dark abyss today! Our very neighbor is Dol Guldur, home of the very filths who I rescued your sorry little impertinent buttocks from! We isolate ourselves because nobody wishes to speak with us again!
"Of course," Legolas continued, snorting as he started circling Estel, like a hawk observing its prey. "Nobody wanted to become the ally of a kingdom already corrupted by evil. So what did we do? We had no ring after all, no protection or magic. At the cost of my brothers' and sisters' blood are my people kept safe."
For a while, Estel and Legolas could only glare at each other, a storm of gray and blue. The boy knew he had provoked the archer, for all of his previous cheery demeanor had faded replaced by a stubborn sense of pride and he himself wasn't how he usually was. He was usually quiet and shy, always the follower of his brother's pranks and always the one who got the less fame and praise around the House of Elrond. And if he did get praise, it was for the most unsignificant things, like getting his elven runes correct or memorizing passages of ancient mortal history he'd probably never need.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Estel heard a howl.
It was no ordinary howl, it was an angry, blood-thirsty howl, loud enough to make you shiver. He gulped and suddenly realized that the rain had ended outside and that a small portion of sunshine had settled out of the cave. And yet puddles of water remained, making all things and plants glitter with a newfound, crystal light.
"Legolas, do you hear it?" asked Estel, previous insults forgotten.
Legolas slowly nodded, quietly getting his bow and arrow out and slipping out of the cave, motioning Estel to be quiet as a finger was held up and put at his lips. Soon however, the boy heard three swift movements of three arrows being nocked and three arrows flying in the air, all hitting their targets with a hearty thump. Estel, disobeying Legolas, took out his sword from the sheath with a sharp, silvery sound and poked his head out, watching as three orcs fell down dead on the ground. From a distance though, the boy could see more orcs coming and some of them riding feral looking wargs, growling and with froth dribbling down their chins.
The elf turned to look at the boy, the blue hues of his eyes wild and shaken. "All right Estel, I can give you time to move out, five or ten minutes at most. I'll hold them off for the time being. Theres's a river down south-"
"You're telling me to go?" asked Estel, suddenly confused.
Legolas rolled his eyes as his hands tightened against his bow. "Well, I suppose yes is a logical response. An upcoming horde of orcs and wargs is coming towards us with the complete desire to have our entire bodies obliterated and smashed into some type of yrch cuisine. If you go now, you might be able to get out of this alive, Estel."
"But you wouldn't," pointed out Estel.
Legolas shrugged as he nocked an arrow and let it go. "Maybe. Maybe not. Sure, my chances are scarce...but I have some, I suppose." Then, his eyes shifted downwards where the orc's wargs were struggling to climb the rocky hill in which the cave stood on. However, the wargs were already half-way through and would soon be surrounding the two of them. "Now! Leave while you can."
For a while, Estel was torn. His instincts told him to get the hell out of there and run like the wind to avoid getting turned into adan chowder by those orcs. However, something strange in his heart urged him to stay. Why? He didn't know...perhaps it was guilt. After all, this elf had just saved his life. He wouldn't exactly be paying his debt back by escaping and letting him die against all of these orcs. And...he had a family. Estel knew his parents, brothers and grandparents would be glad to see him alive but what about Legolas' family? How would they react if one day, he and Lord Elrond went to Legolas' house to tell them their youngest child was dead?
Besides, what had Lord Elrond always told him? "Embrace your flaws and problems and use them as your shield, for they will always bounce back to you if you never confront them. And never run...for they will chase you down until you face them."
Estel snorted, he wasn't exactly sure how these many orcs could serve as helpful to them but at least he sort of got the message. Putting his sword high in the air in another defensive stance Dan and Ro had taught him, he turned to Legolas, who was shooting arrows non-stop and taking advantage of the orcs' current uncomfortable position.
"No," he said.
For a while, almost incredulous, Legolas stop shooting and turned to the boy. "What?"
"Are you deaf?" asked Estel. "Because I said no. I'm not leaving you, Legolas. You saved my life...if I just let you die here, I would never be able to forgive myself, ever."
"Well, if you don't leave, then I would have rescued you in vain," said Legolas but could only turn back to look in front of him, as the wargs and orcs finally managed to climb up the hill and were only five feet away from them. "You are a truly foolish fellow, peredhil, but it seems that there is no way I can dispersuade you so let it be. Now...brace yourself, for battle will be upon us."
However, as Estel accepted his choice, tightenining the grip on his sword, his eyes fixed on the filthy horde of orcs and wargs heading towards them both, he could not help but feel a small sense of dread in his heart.
O-O-O
AN
Hahaha...that was one of my first attempts to make Legolas and Estel be a little angsty against each other. This one was pretty flimsy, I know, but it was kind of made to be that way. In the future there will be real angst scenes...and I'm pretty good in those.
Anyways, to answer my lovely reviews! :) Thanks to everybody who has read and enjoyed so far!
Roy23: Thanks! I'm glad you're liking it so far!
Masked Man 2: Your advice was great, as always. Now I do think that suck and sucky are probably not part of Legolas' vocabulary since they're such informal words but...I'm sure it will not happen in the future. Anyways, I'm glad you love Legolas' and Estel's interactions and that you love stubborn little Estel. I thought I hadn't made him stubborn enough but thank you so much for your affirmations!