A/N: I sincerely thank all of you who took the time to review this story--I'm really sorry that I didn't have the chance to respond to any of your reviews, but I'm truly stoked that you guys like where I'm taking this.
Hope I don't disappoint! And please, regardless of what you think of my work, I'll always appreciate a review, whether it's constructive critisicm or whatnot--sorry for the ramble. Here is chappy 2!
ROGUE
Chapter Two: Invisible Hunters
When his turn to watch had ended, Legolas did not rest, he could not, nor did he tell Estel what had happened. For some reason he could not tell anyone.
Estel had noticed the subtle change in Legolas' behavior, but before he could ask him about it, Legolas had walked into a nearby wooded area, clearly wanting to be alone.
The man sighed.
There was a problem, and he didn't know how to fix it. He was Legolas' friend, so it only came natural to him to want to help his friend in any conceivable way.
But he also reminded himself that Legolas was not a child (most certainly not!), and he would talk when ready. Besides, Estel reasoned to himself, for all he knew, Legolas might have simply awakened on the wrong side of the ground!
Estel was not the only one with Legolas on his mind. Not so far away, they merely appeared as shadows, and they moved as silently and stealthily as death.
Waiting in the wings.
Estel did not see them, and neither did Prince Legolas who was so absorbed in his own thoughts.
None saw them.
o-o-o-Next Day-o-o-o
They saddled their horses as soon as the sun began its climb into the sky, and they knew that they would arrive at King Thranduil's palace around midday.
Their mounts had had a decent rest, but still there was no hurry so they slowed the gallop to a canter.
Just slow enough so that Fingolfin's warrior-honed senses could detect that something was amiss.
To the human eyes, ears, and mind, a minor rustle of leaves behind them might have simply been attributed to the wind, but Fingolfin held up his hand as a signal for them to stop.
"What is it?" Legolas mouthed to him, his blue eyes also looked around cautiously.
Fingolfin didn't reply, he simply dismounted his horse and disappeared out of sight.
"Should we go after him?" Estel asked, a little above a whisper, but a little too loud in this possibly dangerous situation.
Legolas shook his head, though he was partially contemplating the same thing.
Within a few moments, his brother returned; though he did not look shaken, Legolas and Estel noticed that he looked slightly paler.
He mounted his horse in a hurry, and bid them to ride faster.
"What is the matter?" Estel managed to yell above the trampling of their horses.
Fingolfin did not turn to regard the man. "We are being followed," he shouted back.
"Orcs?" Legolas asked; then he immediately regretted saying that out loud, for he saw his folly.
If their followers were orcs, then they would by no means run from the fight, but if it was something far more sinister…
Fingolfin did not give them any other chances to ask him another question, however, for he spurred his horse on even faster.
They rode for two hours straight before he stopped, allowing them to catch their breaths.
"I do not understand," Legolas said, after gulping down some water from his water skins.
Fingolfin shook his head, but whether it was in disgust of both of them or the situation, Legolas could not tell.
"Subtle tracks," Fingolfin eventually explained. "Tracks far too precise for an orc to make," he said, seemingly unimpressed, yet his earlier actions had shown differently.
"That of a spider," Legolas reasoned.
"No," Fingolfin said sharply. "The footprints were barely noticeable. They numbered more than us," he added to dispel the doubt that they could be their own.
Estel did not know what to make of the situation. "Perhaps it was an Elven scouting group," he said, trying to make light of the situation.
"I considered that," the Prince snapped at Estel.
Estel could not imagine Fingolfin being any other way than how he currently was. It hurt the man more than he showed, for to simply think of that Prince courting one who deserved so much better made his stomach churn.
"…they would have made themselves known to us," Fingolfin was saying.
Estel was not sure if he was convinced, and Fingolfin noticed that.
"Ah, but it seems as though they were either not so cautious or they were expecting us to see their trail."
Legolas frowned. "How so?"
"I found this," Fingolfin said, holding out a locket on a golden chain. "I found this and only this on the trail that I had taken to investigate our followers—only that it was not there before."
Legolas reached out for it. "May I see it?" he asked, not overly curious.
Fingolfin dangled the thing by its chain before dropping it into his hand.
Legolas fingered the intricate carving on the front of the locket; it was that of a phoenix. His slender finger managed to undo the small hatch that kept it closed, and the locket popped open.
Inside was a portrait, only a small one, yet it was large enough for the elf's eyes to make out every feature perfectly.
The portrait was that of the young elf boy he had seen in his dream. Every detail fitted the description perfectly. So perfectly, that Legolas almost dropped it out of shock. When he looked up, he noticed that all eyes were on him—even the horses stopped drinking their water to regard him for a second.
Fingolfin smirked. "Is it something familiar? A lost item found?"
Legolas said nothing, but to their surprise, he slipped the golden locket around his neck and walked off toward his horse.
For once, Estel and Fingolfin exchanged mutual glances of confusion before Fingolfin caught up with his brother. "So you are familiar with it, then," he said accusingly.
"I did not say that," Legolas said defensively.
"But you said nothing at all…and you wear it as though it belongs to you," the elf retorted without missing a beat.
Estel also caught up and refitted the saddle, even though his ear was cocked to the conversation.
Legolas in truth hardly knew why he had put the thing around his neck, and he could not blame Fingolfin for questioning him. "I know no more about the locket than you do, I just decided to wear it for safekeeping," he replied, trying to sound convincing.
Fingolfin was not convinced. "I saw the portrait, I saw the picture within. It is of an elf-boy is it not?"
Legolas nodded, and Estel moved over, no longer hiding his interest.
Fingolfin smirked evilly. "Could it be some sinister secret of yours?" he pressed. "Perhaps the child is not so unfamiliar to you."
Legolas shifted from one foot to the other. "I know nothing of the child," he said, remaining partially truthful. "I explained my reason to you, Fingolfin—that is the truth."
Fingolfin looked as if was going to say something else, press the conversation further, but then he merely let it go at that and walked back to his horse, only turning around before he remounted his stallion. "We should ride hard in order to reach father's palace today before our pursuers gain more ground than they already have."
Legolas nodded and he and Estel mounted their horses and followed Prince Fingolfin as he urged his horse to a gallop.
Though he would not speak of it, Fingolfin had not been fully truthful when he had said that the locket had been his only finding; he had also found a dagger, jeweled and perfect in every way…save the fact that the blade was stained with blood. Fingolfin knew that he would easily take care of that once they returned home, and he had every intention of keeping the dagger as his own.
Why not? He had found it after all, lying beside the locket which Legolas had now taken for his own.
In truth, he cared little for the locket. As a fighter, such trinkets did nothing for him. It was crafts of perfection, such as the dagger, than intrigued him. Now it was sheathed on a belt of weapons that hung at his hips.
No one had to know how he had found it and that it was already stained with the blood of another.
No one had to know.
Legolas, meanwhile, subconsciously clutched the locket with his free hand. He could not explain it, but he was beginning to feel as though he was somewhat truly connected with this young elf-boy that he had seen in his dream.
He never even thought that his mind was opening a door which would not readily close again.
Meanwhile, they were indeed being followed...by seemingly invisible hunters