Previously on Chapter 5...

"-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."

Chapter 6

Legolas sat cross-legged quietly in the barge as the river sailed south.

The annoying ungrateful little peredhil had finally fallen asleep. His chattering had almost made him mad and the elf was glad to have some silence. These days had definitely been a handful for him and he was glad for the little rest he had.

Suddenly, he wheezed and a flash of pain entered him. He decided to lie down and as they floated down the stream, he looked up at the starry night sky. Starlight...that was the light woodelves loved the most. It was precious and pure, so far away but so close at the same time. It was hope...and that was something Mirkwood needed these days.

His ribs hurt. Maybe it was because he had a bunch of bruises around his chest from some fights previous to his meeting with the young boy. And he had other injuries that bandages and athellas wouldn't heal so easily. He hadn't told the kid...even though Legolas needed the healing herbs more than the boy did, he let Estel use them. Besides, Legolas could probably endure the pain, unlike young Estel. He sighed as he stood and sat back up. He needed to take watch or else they might get risk getting seen by orcs again.

Slowly, he realized his eyes had moved towards the sleeping boy. He was curled up like a cat dangerously near the rim of the barge, where he could risk falling off and into the rapid waters where he'd most likely drown. His shoulder-length long, dark brown hair was messy, caked with mud and some broken twigs. His breathing was peaceful although he often shivered because of the gales of wind that they were facing. Sighing again, Legolas grabbed his own cloak and put it on the boy, who unconsciously smiled in relief for the newfound warmth and only curled tighter against the cloak.

The elf watched quietly...as annoying as this one was, he was amused by him. There was something about him that, I dunno, that made him like him...and then suddenly, Legolas why: he reminded him of himself. Sure, he knew this peredhil must be lying about who he is but he was clever, give him that. He had wits and a stubborn, a dry sense of humor that were simply annoying...but wasn't that what his older siblings always called him?

Legolas sighed again. He wondered how his brother and sister were doing right now. He grunted in response to his own question. Thalos would probably shrug it off, saying that Legolas would come back soon and was just having another 'tantrum;' that he had most important things to worry about as crown prince. Aurell would probably worry for the first few days but then shove it off as well, calling him an 'irresponsible' and eventually agreeing with Thalos that he'd come back soon. And his Adar...? Legolas snorted.

His Adar wouldn't care at all.

He supposed this little journey was for the best though. Of course this had taken a bit longer than usual, but after he'd shipped Estel to be healed in Fangorn. They would split ways; the peredhil could go wherever he wanted and Legolas would finally go and fulfill the purpose of this journey. Then, he'd return home and he'd finally show his family that he could be just as good as the rest of them. That he wasn't a liability.

Suddenly, Legolas stood up and looked around. Besides the rushing water of the river and the flitting of dragonflies, he felt something else. Something strange. It wasn't an orc or a spider...in fact, it was nothing dangerous. He felt some kind of strange force...something he couldn't quite understand. He'd learned how to track those creatures since he could climb a tree but whatever this strange feeling was, it was still unsettling to him. Shaking it off, he pushed Estel closer to the center of the barge gently, so he wouldn't fall into the water or drown. Then Legolas would have to go in and save the day, as always...but Legolas was like a cat. Water was not his element.

He was probably too sleep deprived, he thought. Sitting crosslegged, standing vigil next to Estel, he thought that a five minute nap would be nothing. Elves slept with their eyes open...and the woodland elves had managed that the most. Besides, nobody slept that well anyways with spiders and orcs roaming their lands day and night. The Mirkwood elves could be half-asleep but also half-cautious at the same time. And yet, as he slowly drifted into half-unconsciousness...

He couldn't shake off the feeling that someone was watching them.

O-O-O

Morning light poured in through the gold of the mallorn leaves. The tall trees sheltered them and gave them a golden curtain of light, precious and pure. Fresh morning dew settled on the silvery leaves and a ripe scent settled in the air, as sweet as the song of the birds. Only a few elves were awake, servants preparing for the day and high-ranking officials, with meetings and all other whatnot to do early in the morning. None of these noticed the two elves with raven black hair with matching dimples and sea blue eyes as they sat on the tallest branches of the mallorn trees, looking down and watching the day proceed.

"Oh Ro, do you know what I most like about mornings?"

One of the black-haired elves looked up from a book he was reading. "Hmm...let me guess. Do you like how easy it is to prank elves? Everything is so calm and nobody suspects anything happening."

"Right," said Elladan, the eldest son of Elrond and eldest of the twins. The Twins of Imladris, Elladan and Elrohir, were also called the 'Trickster Twins,' a name that came from centuries and centuries of endless jokes and pranks, which caused chaos not only in Imladris but in most of the elven kingdoms. "Talking about pranks..."

"Three..." Elrohir put his book in his pocket and joined his brother in the countdown. "Two..." they grinned at each other, although there was no sound in the air. "One..." and suddenly, there was a huge growl in the air, not a scream of surprise but rather, the growl of somebody who had been the endless victim of their pranks, a mixture of annoyance and anger.

"ELRONDION TWINS!"

"Zero!" exclaimed Elladan and both twins laughed. They even fell out of their branch and tumbled down on the floor, against the golden mallorn leaves that had fallen in the ground. They were still laughing when a very angry and sticky Marchwarden strided forward, his very eyes looking sharp enough to kill orcs. Veins bulged in his neck as he grabbed both twins by the collar of their shirts and held them up, which did stop them laughing.

"You and you are in so much bloody trouble! I am so sick of both of you already! You might have fooled everybody else with your pretty little faces...oh, but that was when you were elflings. That doesn't work on me anymore. And I thought I'd had enough work in my life. I have my bloody Marchwarden duties, I have patrols to lead, I have meetings and councils and assemblies, I have bloody paper work, I have bloody agreements and treaties to sign, I have frustrating training sessions with the rookies, I have bloody battles to fight, I have bloody orcs to hunt down, I have to deal with the bloody housework and I have to deal with bloody Rúmil!" said the elf. "And now I have to deal with you two! You two are bloody impossible!"

Elrohir smirked, "That's a lot of bloody's, don't you think, Marchwarden?"

The twins laughed and high-fived each other while the Marchwarden's glare intensified. Haldir of Lórien was the Marchwarden of Lórien, one of the highest military posts in all of Lórien. The job held great importance but also great responsibility but Haldir dealt with all of this just fine. Graduating as the best of his class, he'd proceded to a service many thousands of years long dedicating himself to being a Marchwarden. He'd gone all over Middle-Earth and back and he'd fought countless battles, slaying orcs and dark creatures a many. Although none of the creatures he had hated more than these...the Elrondion Twins.

"You two are going to pay! How many times have I told you to stop the pranks? You two will be lords one day and when that unfortunate day comes, you'll have to sober up and leave these childish fetishes away!" snapped Haldir.

"Fetishes? Oh my, what have you been reading, Marchwarden?" asked Elladan.

"And sure, our days as the most badass and handsome lordlings of Middle-Earth will come and we will have to abandon our ways so that they fit our responsibilities..." trailed off Elrohir. Haldir turned to look at him, almost stunned that he'd actually agreed with him.

Then the twins grinned at each other, "BUT IT IS NOT THIS DAY!"

Haldir groaned, looking ready to slam his face against a tree. Unfortunately, that would only worsen his situation seeing that he was covered completely from head to toe in sticky honey. He sighed, his grip still tight on the twins' collars. "One day, you two will be the death of me."

"Aww, c'mon Marchwarden, we thought you had more self-control than that!" exclaimed Elladan.

"Yes, we thought you were too good to have your mood broken by a pair of adorable and innocent elves," Elrohir said, batting his eyelashes. In response, Haldir grunted.

Suddenly, from the shadows a figure popped out, taking off her hood and said, "Well, well, an uncontrolled Marchwarden...now that is a rarity."

Almost immediately, the Marchwarden dropped the twins and followed the figure as if in a daze and the twins grinned to each other as they dusted themselves and stood up to greet the figure. Even though Elladan and Elrohir had barely met her a few centuries ago, they'd immediately warmed up to her. After all, a sister of Legolas was always a friend of theirs!

"Aurell!" said Elladan grinning. "What brings you here to our humble adobe?"

Princess Aurell gave them one of her rare chuckles as she looked around Lórien's majestic trees and beautiful design. "Besides, out of all the words to describe Lórien...'humble adobe' does not come to me." Then she smiled at them. "Besides, a simple 'good morning' would've been a good enough greeting."

Slowly, she turned around to face the Marchwarden and she flashed him a sly smile along with a small nod. "Marchwarden."

"Princess," he replied in a composed, polite tone as he nodded back, but everybody could tell that he was bursting with emotion in the inside. Something that made Haldir very uncomfortable in the inside, after being the strict, cold Marchwarden of Lórien for many thousands of years.

The twins smirked at each other. The relationship between the Marchwarden and the princess was apparently no surprise to anybody. Fortunately for Haldir's body parts, everybody except the king knew about them being together.

Suddenly, she asked Haldir, "How does it go?"

"How does what go?" asked Elladan, only to be ignored.

Haldir sighed as he looked into the princess' icy blue eyes. "It's all very complicated, Aurell. One day, we get a clue and then...we're in a corner. He hasn't been near Lórien, our trackers saw to that. However, we did find his footprints, fresh ones may I add."

"Where?" she asked, the twins could tell she was getting excited.

"Near the river, the one that comes from the Sea of Rhun. His feet were very light, so it was almost hard to register if they were his but they were the faintest of signs. This means that he was extremely careless to leave marks...or simply very injured," said Haldir. "There was also something very interesting...he does not travel by horse but instead, we found another set of smaller, very clumsy steps. He is traveling with a companion."

"A companion?" frowned Aurell. "B-But we lack nobody from our staff. It is complete, nobody from Mirkwood could've gone with him. Besides, we never leave tracks behind. And the twins are here as well...who could this companion be?"

"He or she," said Haldir, "is not an elf, at least that is what we think. That leaves us a human or a dwarf...and since none of us will ever be with dwarves..."

"You are implying this companion is a human?" asked Aurell. "Do you think it might be a ranger?"

Haldir shook his head. "No. The footsteps are too small. Besides, I have met with rangers before...the Dunedain are trained much better than this companion of his did. The companion is obviously unexperienced."

"Wait, who are we talking about?" asked Elrohir.

"It's Legolas," said Aurell quietly after a few seconds of silence. Her icy blue eyes pierced into the darker, sea blue eyes of the twins. "He's gone missing."

O-O-O

Estel woke up in another cave.

That sucked, he hadn't exactly been lucky around caves but he supposed it was better than drowning in the river. Besides, he didn't feel too bad. Stretching his cramped body, he slowly sat up and felt relatively better. He was covered in a cloak, which was one of the reasons why he had felt so nice and warm and he realized he had seriously needed that rest. He had never been through so much.

"Think fast!"

He grunted, annoyed by the familiarity of the voice and turned around quickly to catch a speeding egg that had been launched at his direction. He then threw himself down on the floor, leaning against the cave wall and he made a small hole on the egg. He then faced a grinning elf, who was nibbling another piece of lembas. For Valar's sake...how many of those did he have?

"You think fast, peredhil," Legolas said smiling. "That is a good sign."

Estel glared at him. "A sign of what? That I'm not...dead yet?"

"Oh come on, not this depressing mood of yours!" exclaimed Legolas standing up, spreading his arms widely. "It's the last thing we need today. Even a pregnant elleth's mood is much more bright than yours. Besides, cheer up Mr. Shadows, we're in Fangorn Forest! Doesn't it feel fantastic? It feels so much fresher!"

"Well, I don't really see the difference..." said Estel, sarcasm thick on his tongue. "Because I am going to die!"

"Aww, now you're just being melodramatic," said Legolas as he crouched down, slung his pack behind his pack and stood up again. "Now, finish your egg and we'll be on our way! The sun rose but a few hours ago...it's best we travel by the morning sun and we'll hopefully be there by mid-day."

"Sure I suppose," said Estel, quickly, he sucked the yolk out of his egg and threw the shell randomly into the cave. This clearly annoyed Legolas (something that pleased Estel very much) who was against littering but decided not to say anything...after all, eggs were kind of organic, weren't they? He stood up, slung his own pack and faced the elf. "Sounds good. And how did you know when the sun rose?"

They walked out of the caves as Legolas said, "Eh...I kind of stayed up all night." And then he added, after seeing Estel's slight frown. "But it's totally fine, you know! I don't need a lot of sleep anyways...the Valar gave me an extra pound of energy. Besides, I stay up all night on patrols."

"And you're not tired at all?" asked Estel, not completely buying it. "Are you sure?"

"Very sure!" exclaimed Legolas and then he led the way out of the cave and waved his hands around, grinning fondly. "There you have it, Estel! Fangorn Forest! Isn't it fantastic? Can't you feel the very purity in the air? The beauty?"

Estel looked around. The cave was located in the middle of the forest...but it wasn't exactly as 'almighty' as Legolas had described it. The forest was full of lush green vegetation...it was literally, very much green. Moss clung on to the barks of trees, wet with morning dew and light green leaves bloomed from every branch. However, there was a slightly eerie aura around the woods. A chilling silence went through his spine and suddenly, the forest felt oddly cold. The trees were curved and made Fangorn look a bit more queer and scary. Although yes, Legolas was right about the air...he didn't know why but this forest smelled fantastic.

Instead, he asked, "It's so quiet...where's everybody?"

Legolas sighed and slowly, they started their way through the mythical woods. Legolas barely made noise but occasionally, Estel's boots would crunch against some branch or leaf and the elf would regard him with a look that told him he should be more careful. The forest was the largest piece of land he'd ever seen and despite the cold eeriness, he was in awe at the same time. However, as soon as Legolas started speaking, his attention turned away from the forest but on the elf.

"Fangorn used to spread much larger than this," said Legolas. "Far larger. The territory spread from Eriador and Calenardhon and once this forest was rich and pure. It was alive, blooming with life and plants. Through the First Age and the Second Age, peace was mantained in this forest...until around the end of the Second Age. Most of this forest was destroyed by then, since Fangorn had the richest of resources, the Númenóreans came and felled down it's great trees, making war ships for the war..."

A silence came after that and quietly, Estel asked, "That war...was it the War of the Alliance? Sauron's war?"

"Yes. It was the first time both elves and humans worked together against a common foe. They won that battle...although at a heavy cost," said Legolas and then he paused and continued. "My grandfather and father fought in that war. Grandfather never came home and two-thirds of Mirkwood's army was slain. My father barely came out alive. After the war, after so many losses...the elves and the humans never worked together ever since."

Estel wanted to argue but found that he couldn't. His race had been a disgrace in that war and Estel looked down, in slight shame. Isildur, overcome by the greed and corruption of the One Ring, had refused to throw the ring into the deadly fires of Mount Doom. And that mistake had cost thousands of lives and was the very reason why corruption was now upon the once peaceful lands of Middle-Earth. The race of men had gone insane, corrupted just as much as Isildur...and all honor that race used to have, was gone.

"B-But do you think it's possible?" whispered Estel, looking back up at the elf.

"Do I think what is possible?" asked Legolas.

"You know...another alliance of elves and men?" said Estel. "Do you think that one day, elves and men will work again, together to vanquish their foes? Do you think that one day...all of Middle-Earth will work together?"

Suddenly, he heard a laugh and frowned as the elf chuckled, his head shaking, his eyes looking a bit sad. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You have big dreams, little peredhil, but when that happens I would have already sailed. Men and elves are not in their best terms right now, much less all of Middle-Earth. We have so many differences, but so little time to talk about them." Then the elf sighed. "Besides, I hope that moment does not come soon, for when it does...it means we are all truly desperate."

Then Legolas winked. "Besides, there is no way I'm going to be working with a smelly little dwarf. My brother says horse dung smells like flowers next to them."

Estel cracked a small smile. Seeing that Legolas was reacting pretty well, he saw it as a sign that he could dwelve just a little further. "Legolas, can I ask you a question? Well...I was wondering about what you knew about Nazgul."

In a split second, the elf turned grim. "I know a bit...why do you want to know? Do you not know the story of the rings?"

"I do, but-" Estel trailed off when he was cut down by Legolas' voice.

"Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men, doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie," chanted Legolas in an eerie voice.

Suddenly, it was as if even the forest was scared. There was no sound, no smell, no movements at all. It was as if Fangorn was a creature alive, just as frozen in fear as Estel was. A quick migraine went through his head and then cleared. Legolas then continued his explanation, his face still grim. "The Nine, also known as the Nazgul, the Ulairi, were once nine great kings of Men. Once they received their rings, they fell under their power and corruption and became bounded to Sauron, becoming his most loyal servants. Therefore, they were granted even more power...immortality."

Estel knew he'd gone too far and that he'd dwelt too deep into such dark subject. Seeking to lighten the darkened mood, he asked instead, "All right...um, thank you for the explanation. Anyways, I have another question. Who's this person that's going to heal me up?"

A mysterious grin came from the elf. "Maybe 'person' isn't the right word."

"So he or she is not a human?" asked Estel. "Is it an elf, like you?"

"None of those," said Legolas, as the boy gaped at him and grinned with amusement. "Come along now Estel...you'll see very soon. But we've got miles to cover and even a turtle could outspeed you based on how quickly you are walking right now."

And so they did. Despite the fact that only the eastern part of the original Fangorn Forest remained, Estel was panting after so much walking. He grew even more pale on the thought of thinking how much walking he'd be doing if the entire forest had remained; he shuddered. Legolas, despite having stayed up all night, had seemed tireless, jumping over obstacles and walking cheerfully and only after three hours, he'd noticed the young boy was just in the verge of fainting. They rested under the shade of some trees and Estel drunk a few skins of water and finally accepted some of Legolas' lembas because of starvation. Legolas paced back and forth, gushing about Fangorn and making more travel plans.

"We'll be there in about ten to twenty minutes," stated Legolas. "The center of Fangorn! I've never actually been in the center, really...I was only allowed to go on the edges of the forest, nothing more...but actually going to the middle of Middle-Earth's purest and oldest forest! Oh my, how incredible! Did you know that...?"

And Legolas continued rambling something about how awesome Fangorn was and was so intent on doing so that he didn't notice that Estel had stumbled towards a tree, his hand against the tree for support. One second, he was just fine, eating lembas when suddenly, his throat had felt dry and then...he'd been blinded. His eyes felt like they were on fire, like they were made of wax. He took deep breaths and suddenly, he felt sweat trickling down his forehead. Everything was so hot, it was burning...when had the temperature turned so high?

Suddenly, Legolas turned around and frowned, walking forward. "Estel, are you all right?"

The elf almost felt like slapping himself. The boy was obviously not all right. By now, he was screaming, asking to stop the pain, clutching his eyes. Sweat stuck to the boy's shirt and more seemed to come out. Estel's skin tone had gone from slightly tanned to paper white, a white paler than moonlight. Legolas leaned forward when suddenly, Estel barfed, letting out a disgusting mixture on the ground and...a lot of it on Legolas' clothes. The elf looked bothered by the mess, for he was usually pretty neat but his concern was not on his clothes but rather on the vomit, when he saw the color of it...

It was black.

Well, it was green and slightly purple-ish, with just a few specks of black but still...none of that was normal. Grunting, Legolas grabbed a water skin and was disappointed to find that it was only a fourth full. Whatever, he thought as he used it to clean Estel's face and keep him hydrated for a while, I don't need much water anyways. The peredhil needs it more than I do. He grabbed both of their packs, slung them across his back and grabbed Estel. The boy was heavy...damn, why couldn't mortals control their diets? Legolas snorted as he eased the boy up and slowly, put him horizontally on his shoulder, although that made the boy squirm and groan occasionally. If humans were vegetarians like him, maybe they wouldn't weigh so much.

As he took one step forward, he cursed in Sindarin. He was lucky nobody was there...Thalos would have shoved a bar of soap into his mouth. The weight...it was too much. Every step was painful and with his own injuries... "Oh Valar, why do you hate me so?" he asked out loud, although he knew nobody would hurt me. Suddenly, he put Estel down and quickly massaged his tired arms. However, as he looked down at Estel's groaning form, which was vomiting more of those black things occasionally, he knew he couldn't give up. His arms for a life...it seemed like a good deal. Besides, it was his fault...if he'd never dragged the boy into this trouble, he wouldn't be feeling so much pain right now.

He scooped down the boy and put him on his shoulders again. "Valar gave me enhanced skills for a reason, I suppose," he muttered. "Might as well make that useful."

And he took a step forward. And then another. And another. Until suddenly...he was running.

O-O-O

Estel woke up.

He felt a bit dizzy, but otherwise he was all right. Groaning to himself, he slowly sat up. He realized he was outdoors and he could smell the scent of fresh pine and that he was lying on a pretty large quilt, which was on top of a slab of stone two times wider and taller than he was. He looked at himself. He had been cleansed and he felt much more civilized now. He even wore fresh clothes, a light green attire. There was not a speck of dirt on him and his hair had been combed and everything, the dark rich curls shining once more with their usual splendor. His leg had been bandaged, along with other parts that had been injured and his chest smelled of athellas. Then, feeling something strange in his neck, his hand went there.

He saw he was wearing a necklace...no, an amulet. The string was made of a strong, old vine and hanging from it, was a strange stone with some runes he'd never seen before and two symbols in Tengwar, which he could've normally deciphered but his head still needed to clear off a bit. Making a move to take it off because it was so heavy and it slightly hurt his neck, he heard a voice from his left.

"Don't take it off! It's powerful magic, you know."

Estel grinned and turned around to see Legolas. Unlike him, Legolas still looked the same with the same dirty attire and a very worn out cloak. Fatigue and injuries were now more visible in him, some cuts in his face. He wondered if he was hiding anything worse. And also...Legolas' shirt was covered in barf. His barf. Slowly, the memories came back and he remembered everything. Groaning, he stood a bit straighter.

"Hello Legolas," he said.

"Hello Estel, how are you feeling?" asked the archer.

"Better I suppose," said Estel. "Kind of...purified. I kind of needed the bath I suppose. Sorry for the...erm, barf by the way. I didn't mean to."

"Of course you didn't mean to! You were sick, it's none of your fault. You wouldn't have done it on purpose anyways...right?" asked Legolas, grinning at him.

Estel chuckled along with the him, shaking his head. "No, never! I mean, you are annoying but I wouldn't purposely barf on you. I'm not as evil as my brothers..." Then he paused and poked at the amulet hanging from his neck. "So, what is this?"

"It's a nestad-gond, a healing stone," said Legolas, getting excited. "It is a rare kind of magical stone, brought over from Valinor many ages ago. It can only be fully activated by Quenya runes, an old elvish language long forgotten by most. My kin brought them over to Fangorn as a gift and they've been here ever since. Only a few places have them and it allows the bearer to be fully healed and immune against any diseases as long as he or she is wearing it. It is truly amazing!"

"What happens if you take if off?" asked Estel, curiously.

"I-I, well...I wouldn't recommend it," said Legolas nervously. "We haven't exactly cured you yet. We know the antidote for the poison of course. The poison is called gûr-thûl, death breath. It is a very rare poison, straight from Mordor but it is not impossible to cure. We've got all of the ingredients except only a few but for now, you'll be fine, if not better."

Estel shuddered. Death breath...woo hoo! That sounded like such a positive name for a poison that was currently running through his veins and that could currently kill him instantaneously. Anyways, he was glad there was a cure for this poison...there was hope at least. Like his name.

"How many people have been affected by this 'death breath' poison?" he asked Legolas, suddenly a bit curious.

"Erm...three," said Legolas. "But-"

"And out of all the three," said Estel. "How many of them got out alive?"

"Er...look, it was all very complicated. In the past, Middle-Earth wasn't as well developed in the art of healing. Many diseases and poisons were yet undiscovered-"

"Legolas," said Estel firmly, wanting to get to the point. "How. Many. Of. Them. Got. Out. Alive?"

Legolas looked down absently, he whispered in a low voice, although a voice perfectly audible for Estel, "One."

Estel leaned back, his mind blank, his heart nearly skipping a beat. If one out of three people had gotten this poison, there were little to no chances for him to heal from this. Suddenly, he lurched back forward, surprising both himself and Legolas.

"Then why don't we go to this person? This survivor? Why did we need to come all this way into this wretched forest and-?" he started before Legolas snapped.

"It is not wretched. Appreciate Fangorn's beauty and purity, peredhil. Show some respect. Besides, that survivor you're talking about, the one who was able to beat the gûr-thûl out of his system..." the elf took a deep breath, "was me."

O-O-O

Sorry for the delay guys! At least twenty chapters of my other story, The Spring Festival were accidentally deleted! O_O And I'm still trying to find it. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. The concept of the healing stones and the 'death breath' is invented, so it's not actually real... Now, for the awesome reviews!

Luin: Haha! Yes, it's all mixed up! What a family Legolas has. And Thranduil? Well...you'll see him much more in the next chapter. And haha, does this show what the twins are doing?

Masked Man 2: Celeborn and Galadriel had a daughter, Celebrían (but...eh, she goes to Valinor because of an encounter she had with orcs...long story). Celebrían then proceded to marry Elrond and they had the twins and Arwen. That's why Estel is technically their grandson. The language issue...yes, you're right, it's kind of modern but I'm not very good using Old English. I kind of combine it all...LOL, so yes, I'm afraid I'm never going to get over those little language mistakes but thanks for the advice, man! Hahaha...and Legolas and Beluriel? Who knows? ;) I'm glad you find this all interesting...because it'll just get better in time.