Previously on Chapter 4...

"-Many things, really. First, you would go severely blind and it will feel as if your eye sockets are on fire...and that's because they are. Then your joints will throb terribly, like a hammer has been hitting them for centuries. Your stomach will then be too weak to handle anything inside of it and your life's worth of food will start puking out uncontrollably. Your nose will start bleeding and afterwards, your windpipe would get blocked, choking you and obviously leaving you without air to breathe. Then, you'd die a very painful death." He then looked at Estel's dead pale face and smiled awkwardly, "Lembas?"

Chapter 5

The elleth walked with an air of dominance.

And she did deserve that dominance; after all, she was the leader of the Mirkwood cavalry, a rank that did not come so easily between so many talented warriors. As she stalked down the hall, her eyes glazed with a dangerous fire but she had an unexpected facade, cool and controlled. Servants often paused and gazed at her, gaping in amazement. Female warriors were no surprise here, for in Mirkwood every hand was needed to fight the darkness but they gaped at her control, of how someone of such high rank, could be so calm and serene.

Beluriel would've normally been called pretty. She was a bit too petite for her age, which was but two thousand and five hundred, but she was still more fit than most warriors. Her long raven hair, made into messy warrior braids, was loose. Her eyes were indigo blue, deep and with a swirling light. Her face was almond-shaped, with rosy cheeks and it would've almost been adorable...if she wasn't glaring a death glare at you or shooting you an annoyed scowl.

Finally, the captain reached her destination and stopped at the door. Sighing, not wanting to imagine what the terrible scene would be when she opened the door. She sighed as she knocked and waited for the response, she would have to face the king anyways...she had five meetings scheduled further on that day and it's not like she had a choice in wanting to attend any of them. Then she heard a quick "ENTER!" and entered.

She opened the door and closed it behind her, surprised to see in the royal chair instead of Thranduil, his eldest son, Thalos, who was also the crown prince of Mirkwood. His hair, usually a bright but slightly dry gold, was crumpled and messed up. He looked obviously tired, with his eyes started to become saggy...however, it seemed he wasn't going to get much rest as there were two huge piles of paperwork in front of the crown prince. He was scribbling intently, his eyebrows which he had majestically inherited from his father, scrunched up in concentration. Suddenly, as he heard her come inside, recognizing her by the bare sound of her footsteps, he raised his head, hand-combed his hair back and forced a small, tired smile at the captain.

"Mae govannen," he said, trying to sound cheerful. "What can I do for you, Captain Beluriel?"

Beluriel knew what he was doing but she didn't care. She was a very straight elleth, always hating metaphors and riddles. She always got straight to the point and that was perhaps why Thranduil had chosen her to lead one of Mirkwood's forces: she was so effective. "Where's King Thranduil? This is his office, not yours."

Thalos, forever the honest one of the princes sighed in defeat, waving an arm at her. "Adar has not been feeling well...you know, with the incident and all. I have arisen upon the decision myself and as my father's formal regent, I have taken his place for the time being."

Before Beluriel could reply something about the incident, a voice from the shadows came out. Years as a captain had made her strong and noncholant but although she did not look surprised, she was just that in the inside. A hooded figure, cloaked in a cloak and clad in light armour came out with her deep green eyes flashing with a strong fire; it was the mysterious daughter of King Thranduil, Aurell. After spending years as a ranger next to the Dunedain, she sought revenge for her mother's death but even after centuries of not accomplishing that, she eventually had to embrace her position and came back to Mirkwood. Still, even centuries after her return and centuries without ranging, her strength and battle skill had not waned and the "Lost Princess" of Mirkwood still had some dark secrets and abilities under her sleeve.

"Shut the elegant talking, brother," said the princess rolling her eyes. "Look at her face, she's not buying one thing of your 'kingly' talk and so am I. You know what's going to happen...we both do. We know it's not some random sickness that's been affecting Adar. It's the same thing all over again."

"Well, it seems you still need a lesson in manners," snapped the crown prince back. "Besides, you are exaggerating. Adar is most certainly not grieving...he's got much more sense to do that. The stars say there is hope-"

"The stars? Hope?" snorted Aurell, leaning back against a cupboard with her arms folded. "Ironic coming from the crown prince who writes crappy dark poetry who's unwillingly taken his father's place who rules a dark elven kingdom infested with spiders, orcs and who knows what other kind of malice? Oh, and did I mention we have bloody Dol Guldur as our neighbor? Not the friendliest I've-"

"SILENCE!" said Thalos standing up, sighing, he sat back down. "First of all, my poetry is amazing, mind you. Second of all...I mean, dang Aurell! By ranting about it you aren't solving anything. In fact you're making things worse and you're giving me a migraine." He spun the royal chair he sat upon and now the back of the chair faced the princess and the captain as he looked outside of the window into the dark festering woods of what was once called Greenwood the Great. "Besides, I've got too many things to worry about right now. Other than this wretched work and worrying about Adar, it seems I'm the only one who's actually thinking about finding my little brother."

"Excuse me?" said Aurell. "Only you? You must be insane! I've been looking everywhere! I'm the one who sent the patrols. I'm the one who alerted all the other elven kingdoms. I'm the one who organized the search parties. Trust me, I want to find Legolas just as much as you do, he's my little brother too, if you haven't noticed. Don't think that-"

Beluriel thought it was time to intervene, coughing, the royal siblings stopped their fighting. Aurell quietly ceased speaking while Thalos spun his chair around to face her. "My lord, my lady. This bickering of yours solves nothing. If you two could just calm down, we all might be closer to finding Legolas." She paused and sighed. "I know I am no kin of his but I am his friend. And if he were here right now, all he'd want is for you two to please shut up and focus."

For a while, all was silent. It filled the room, that eerie sense of nothing...the quiet shadow that hung upon Mirkwood.

Suddenly, Thalos sighed. "I suppose you are right but you do not completely understand how hard this is on all of us...in us both in particular. If we lose Legolas...then we don't only lose him, we lose Adar. And we cannot afford losing him again. This kingdom can't." He sighed and then looked at her, his eyes almost pleading. "Please tell me you have good news to deliver."

She internally gulped. "Good news are scarce these days, my lord," she said neutrally.

"Dammit," snapped Aurell. "Always the bad stuff comes to us. Mandos really does seem to hate Mirkwood. Anyways, go on Beluriel. What have you to say? Is it a report on your patrol to find Legolas? If it is bad, say it quickly, for I hate waiting."

So do I, but I am not going to like what happens after, she thought and then, without saying anything, she carefully unsheathed Legolas' knives and put them forth on the royal desk. Too stunned to speak, Aurell stumbled forward to get a better look, her face pale and Thalos did as well, a sad, shocked look in his face, his hands wrapping around the handle of the knives quietly. Then, Beluriel gave them the report of the search, when she had finished, the princess spoke up.

"That's it," she said, almost sobbing, her voice still strong but crackling. "Legolas is gone...and maybe forever, Mandos knows where. He would never leave those knives...much less bury them under stone. T-Those knives..."

"They were Nana's knives, his last memories of her," whispered Thalos quietly. "I know. I was there when she gave them to him...and I saw how wide his smile was when he got them." He buried his head in his hands. "He was a warrior. I knew that when he started growing up. I was always precautious...because there was always that danger. I knew that one day, in one second, my life could change forever...and my little brother might be gone from me. Perished in battle. I knew that was one of the risks Legolas was taking...but this." He paused and looked back at her. "Did you even find a body?"

Beluriel sighed and whispered quietly. "No my lord."

Suddenly, she didn't know where it came from, but she had a sudden explosion of energy. An inspiration. What would Legolas do in her place? She had to be strong...she couldn't and wouldn't forget him. Nope...that wasn't something friends just did. If their places were reversed, Legolas would never give up...it wasn't too late for her. Gathering her courage, she grabbed a map of Middle Earth, opened in and slammed it down on the desk, surprising the royals with her boldness.

"We cannot lose hope," she insisted as she started pinpointing some places. "He can't just disappear out of nowhere. He is somewhere, I can feel it...we just haven't looked hard enough. He must be out there. These knives...they mean nothing! They are valuable for our search, yes, but we cannot think of them negatively. This should encourage us...they are not so damaged so it means Legolas was still alive at that time and hopefully he still is today. There is hope...and that's the important thing," she looked up and faced two different pairs of eyes, both a stunningly serious tone of green, "we cannot lose hope."

O-O-O

Estel grabbed the piece of lembas the elf had offered him...and then he threw it at him.

Fortunately for him, the accuracy was perfect. It hit Legolas square in the jaw and as soft as lembas was, it was still kind of disgusting. Wiping pieces off from his flawless shaped and clear jaw, the elf turned to scowl at the human. "What did you do that for? You just wasted a perfectly decent piece of lembas!"

"Excuse me?" snapped Estel. "You just told me I'm going to die! I think I do have a right to throw some lembas at your annoying elf face."

"That," said Legolas sitting down calmly, "is kind of true. But not the annoying elf face thing...I am rather vain about my face and trust me, it's not annoying, it's fabulous. Anyways, about your death...well, you won't exactly die. We have two days to get to Fangorn. If we don't...you will die." He thought for a moment and added, "Very painfully."

"Thank you for adding that," muttered Estel and sighed, dumping himself down on the barge. "It certainly brightens my mood! I will die painfully if I don't get to this weird, mystical forest in two days. I climbed through the wretched Misty Mountains. I've been chased by orcs, goblins and wargs. I get lots of gruesome injuries and risk my tail for you by running out in the forest gathering supplies. And now I'm going to die? What would I do for some good news?"

"Hey, Mr. Darkness and Shadows!" said Legolas grinning, still being cheerful. "Don't be so negative...seriously. I mean, everything is not that bad. We still have lembas!"

Estel glared at him. "I don't want any of your bloody lembas!"

"Jeez, fine. No need to raise your voice about it, watch your language," said Legolas, sounding more amused than offended as he stuffed a small bite of lembas in his mouth. "Anyways, there is some good news. While you were unconscious, I managed to kill the yrch and other filths that were facing us. So we're basically clear now. Also, I managed to make a barge and since you were unconscious for like, a day, we'll reach Fangorn tomorrow morning and hopefully they will cure you."

The young human sighed. "Well, at least you did something while I was gone...and wait, I was gone for a day?"

"Yes you were," said Legolas. He then handed Estel a cup of what seemed clear water but still, the human poked it suspiciously...growing up as a healer's son, he had his suspicions. "Now, drink this, it's for your own good. It'll slow the symptons from the orc poison."

Estel held it in his hand but made no move to drink it. "Wait, I have a question before I drink it..."

"Yes?"

"Well, you wiped up all the bloody things that were chasing us back there!" exclaimed Estel. "I don't think an average guard could do that."

"I am not-" suddenly, Legolas stopped abruptly, as if he were regretting something and then continued. "I am not an average guard. I am one of the better guards...one of the king's elite body guards. I was trained by the king's best archer, an elf called Feredir. He taught me all I know about battle. Besides, I have had experience, penneth. That changes a warrior drastically. Now, please drink that blasted drink...it's for your very own good."

Estel, too tired to argue, drank the entire cup and handed the cup to the elf, who was smiling suspiciously. Putting the cup aside, the elf leaned back and grinned at the human. He suddenly felt dizzy, his head drowsy and his eyes started fluttering shut. He turned one last time to glare at the elf, who was smugly grinning at him as he ate another piece of lembas. Dang! How many pieces of lembas was this elf going to eat? Wasn't one small bite enough to fill a grown man? Well, this elf sure had an appetite. Putting that aside, Estel slowly found himself lying down on the barge, fatigue entering his body as Legolas smiled.

"Sweet dreams sleepy head," he said grinning. "I'll take first watch, don't you worry. Rest well...you'll need it."

O-O-O

"This is one of the most peculiar things I have ever seen."

The night was cool and dark, showered by starlight. The other elves, all in merry moods, had dragged their elflings to the fields of Lórien, in order to be able to further appreciate their heavenly light and to enjoy the night, as they spoke under a curtain of gold. However, some had stayed behind, some high ranking officials with late night work to do or servants, cleaning up remains and other things. In the tallest balcony, in the stronghold of Lothlórien, a tall elleth stood and though her eyes, crystal blue, were wise and old, her face looked young and hopeful. She was slender and her beauty was far beyond the power of words. She was light itself, precious and pure. She turned around from the balcony and entered the heavily plushed room, where an elf, also quite handsome, was reading a book.

The elf, Lord Celeborn, looked up from what he was reading and flashed his beloved, the Lady of the Golden Wood, Lady Galadriel, a smile. "And why is that, may I ask?"

"Our little Estel shows such hate towards him," she started as she headed towards her husband, with a thoughtful smile as she then sat next to him in the bed. "And yet, he chose to stand beside him when it would have been more wise to leave. And Legolas...oh well, he's a charming little thing all right but he is definitely annoyed by Estel's youth. After all, he has much to learn and often speaks before thinking. And yet...Legolas chose to spare him, he chose to guide him, to protect him."

"They are very different, melleth-nín," explained Celeborn, putting his book aside as his wife leaned her glorious head on his sturdy shoulder. "In those differences however, they find similarities. And those similarities are what bring them both together."

"They share a bond," said Galadriel as she looked out from the window, watching as the moon shone bright upon the sky and reflected, not so far off, two small figures in a little barge sailing further south. "A strange bond...it is not strong yet, but it is there. It is tight and only tightening even more."

"Galadriel, don't you think that we should help them?" asked Celeborn, concerned. "They've been through so much...we should help them. And Estel, for Valar's sake-"

"No, not now melleth," whispered Galadriel. "I can have foresee great things happening with those two. They will have to make some sacrifices, yes...but they're about to receive something much greater than that. They both have great destinies to look up to...I can just feel it, but now is not the time to tell them that and tonight, we will let faith take them through their journey. Instead, we pray to the stars and Earendil...to hope they can survive through the process."

O-O-O

AN: Haha! A nice short chappie I whipped up in about a day. So Galadriel and Celeborn know...but they're letting them go on this journey of theirs? LOL, they deserve an A+ in being grandparents. However, this chapter was pretty badass: because we now get multiple POVs! THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! I love making Mirkwood POVs so you'll see many of those in the future. Anyways, here are some answers from the awesome reviews you guys gave me! ;)

Emi the Ninja: LOL, yes. XD Mandos does hate them...but hey! So far they're alive! At least Mandos doesn't hate them that much...yet.

Luin: It's great that you think this story is unique because it indeed is! And yes, Chapter 4 sure was a handful. Hahaha...I like how much you love Legolas' stubborness. And yes, Legolas is very calm because he's a prince and he's sort of been trained for these kinds of stressful situations. And finally, I'm not spoiling much but...these two will get hurt. A lot,may I add. I've got some awfully 'nice' plans for them. MWAHAHAHA! XD

Masked Man 2: Haha, Legolas is not the most comforting person to be around with. :P Anyways, yup! That chapter was sure exciting...with the rocks and everything! Here, after fighting even more creatures and having rocks fall on him, the prince seems okay...but is he really? And yes, some things seem awfully confusing after that...I might want to improve my fluency in writing. Thanks for the advice. And the she-elf...this chapter kind of explains that! :) And yes, there will be many more interactions between Legolas and Estel in the future. Also...of course I aim for unexpected. And there will be many more twists in the future so beware.

Things to look forward next chapter: Next stop, Legolas and Estel end up in Fangorn Forest (which proves to be pretty 'exciting' for Estel). And where there's Fangorn, there are... YAY, TREE ENTS! :D

Oh, and we'll take a look in the search for the 'lost' Legolas and another look in how our favorite elven king is coping. Stay tuned folks and thanks for reading! XD