Disclaimer: I only own them in my loveliest dreams.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Reaching the top of the large blockade, Aragorn began to tentatively scrape away the loose dirt while holding on to a half-formed stalactite with the other hand. It was not long before he broke through into an empty space on the other side. Encouraged by the continuing stableness of the wall, he began to work downward, enlarging the hole. Again, it wasn't long before his progress was halted, this time because of a large boulder. After exploring the edge with his fingers, Aragorn realized that there was no working past the giant rock, and he had to content himself with the small, head-sized hole he had created.

"Legolas? Mellon-nin, are you well?"

He waited for a moment, listening in vain for some response, than repeated the plea. Twice, he repeated this process, and then, the fourth time he called, he heard a reply.

"Aragorn?"

"Mellon-nin, where are you?"

A pause, and then Aragorn heard a rather dry version of the elven prince's voice waft through the hall. "Well Aragorn, I appear to be in a cave."

At that moment, Gimli returned with a party of dwarves outfitted with pickaxes and shovels. Aragorn stopped them with a raised hand, and in the ensuing silence, Legolas could be heard quite clearly, though his voice sounded rather hoarse. "And I am in this dratted cave because of one of those hairy little beings cannot keep his feet firmly planted on the ground. And here I thought that the hirsute creatures are so 'in touch' with the rock. An elf never falls out of a tree…"

"Legolas!" Aragorn hissed. "They are right here!"

A faint "Oh," reached the ears of those who listened. "Well then… I am trapped in here by the way. It's rather dark… I appear to be sheltered in a tiny little dip with a giant boulder over my head. And it is dark."

The dwarves motioned Aragorn down. As soon as he was safely clear, they moved in and began to methodically clear the passage, working swiftly but with great care.

The ranger paced back and forth, wondering if Legolas was indeed all right. The elf had not mentioned an injury, but that was typical. He had sounded rather annoyed with the whole ordeal, but Aragorn's ears, finely tuned to the voice inflections of his life-long friend, knew that Legolas was badly shaken. He was trapped in a cave in the dark, and that was bad enough for any elf. Moreover, his life depended entirely on the dwarves, and everyone knew that that was potential for disaster.

He paused in his pacing and watched Gimli, hard at work alongside his workers, and smiled briefly. Legolas had nothing to fear as long as Gimli was there.

Minutes stretched into an hour, at which point the dwarves had cleared sufficient space at the top of the rubble to crawl through. They did so immediately, though they had a fine view of Aragorn's backside as they went. The ranger, upon hearing the triumphant call of the dwarves as they breached the wall, had shot up the wall as fast as an elf would a tree. He would go first, he said, although, not in so many words. His worry about his friend's silence was beginning to wear.

Reaching the other side of the wall, he realized that the slope on this side was far gentler than the other. He felt his way down, going faster as the dwarves, bearing torches came through. "Legolas!"

"Over here."

Aragorn immediately rushed to his left, heart nearly stopping as he glimpsed his friend. The elf was flat on his stomach, arms protectively over his head. The rest of his body was not visible, for he was indeed lying in a small dip. The boulder had come down directly upon him, and would have certainly crushed him if not for the shallow depression. As it was, he was no doubt feeling rather squashed.

The dwarves did not cheer upon seeing the elf, but instead set about their work of moving the stone. Gimli and Aragorn remained by Legolas's head. "You gave us quite a scare, lad. And what's all this about me being a little hairy being?" The stout dwarf crossed his arms; Aragorn and Legolas could both tell that he was torn between acting angry and wanting to give the elf a bone-crushing hug.

"You cannot get rid of me so easily." Legolas replied cheerfully. "No matter how much your companions would like to leave me here."

"Don't be daft! You saved Thringe, and if a single dwarf is indebted, all the dwarves are indebted! They won't be forgetting that you saved his life, and, if anything, will be even more surly because they are nervous about seeming too friendly too fast."

Legolas rolled his eyes. "Wonderful," he muttered, so low that only Aragorn could hear, "they become more brusque the more they like you. I do so love these hairy beings."

The ranger shouted with laughter, drawing several strange looks from the dwarves. Their surprised eyes staring out from beneath bushy eyebrows made the ranger laugh all the more.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

The next night, after both ranger and elf received a well-earned day of rest (and in Legolas's case, recovery), they answered the call of the dwarves and ventured up to the large gathering room that the dwarves had appropriated for dining uses. Not that the tables and stools scattered around the room constituted fine dining exactly. It reminded Legolas much of a tavern, albeit a large, very noisy one.

The room was nearly full, and off in the corner, three dwarves pounded out a steady rhythm on large drums. The room was full of pipe-weed smoke and the hum of rough voices. Over the entire din, a dwarf rumbled out an ancient poem that ran rather like a song to the beat of the drums.

The commotion ceased when the elf entered, but soon picked right up again, with many of the 'patrons' stealing looks at the two travelers. They had naturally heard the entire story of the day before. Legolas had in fact been privy to everything from stiff claps on the back and gruff words of thanks to still-grouchy mumbles about him trying to 'gain favor', and everything in between.

Gimli yelled over the din that this was where many of the dwarves could be found when they were not working the caves. And apparently, the entire population was now in this hall.

They found an empty table near the drummers (no easy feat) and sat, Legolas eyeing the goings-on in frank amazement. Aragorn sat back and enjoyed the sights, trying to keep a look of smugness from crossing his features. He himself had been a guest of dwarves several times in his life, and he had found them much the same: rough and tough as the mountain rock they delved, but with a great fondness and affection for the earth. He noted in some delight that all the dwarven complexes seemed to have another thing in common: a large greeting room and a large stockpile of beer and ale.

Legolas drummed his fingers against the table in time to the dwarven drums as Gimli went to fetch them some drinks. The place nearly overwhelmed him, so great was the confusion and noise, but in a strange way he felt himself slowly relaxing, drawn to it all. The pipe-weed was the one thing that bothered him, for, as an elf, he was not accustomed to such great quantities of the stuff. He had put up with it from Aragorn and Gandalf for many years, and then during the war, he had put up with the entire Fellowship puffing away on their pipes. But all this… He coughed slightly, but covered it up by thanking Gimli as the dwarf set down the mugs.

"You like the drums, lad?" Gimli asked, noting the twitching fingers of the elf.

"Yes," Legolas answered, eyes slightly unfocused as he remembered some distant time from the past. "If they sped it up a little, and changed a beat," (here, he demonstrated by drumming his hands on the table) "one would have the beat of an old Elvish drinking song."

The sudden stillness of the great room startled the elf, and he eyed the masses with a small amount of nervousness. Upon his demonstration of the beat, the drums had gone silent, prompting the rest of Durin's folk to go quiet and look for the source of the disruption. Therefore, the words 'old Elvish drinking song' had struck out quite effectively.

With a growing sense of dread, Legolas watched as the drummers conferred with each other and struck up the beat, this time with his alteration evident. The elf looked about desperately as the dwarves closed in around him, with what he deemed to be evil glints in their eyes. "You are not about—" he protested.

Aragorn fought back a series of undignified snickers. He knew just what was happening. He himself had once been subject to this dwarven custom, and he would enjoy watching his friend be put on the spot.

The dwarves deftly grasped the elf's forearms and swung him up onto the table, rumbling with laughter as they caught sight of his panicked expression.

"You are all quite mad!" he called, silencing the dwarves effectively. But only for an instant as a dwarf called back victoriously, "Nay! We are little hairy beings!"

The drums struck the beat with renewed vigor, and all others fell quiet, waiting expectantly. Legolas stifled a groan and looked to Aragorn for help.

Aragorn laughed and told his friend, "It is custom for any guest knowing a song to perform it. Especially if it is a drinking song. If it is any good, it will be remembered, and sung at festivals, when the beer runs freely. And since it is the dwarves custom, it would be rude if you do not comply."

"You are in league with them aren't you?" Legolas cried in dismay, but, in looking down at the dwarfs' expectant gazes, he found that he couldn't very well reject the custom and sit down. With a great and exaggerated sigh, he motioned for the drummers to speed the tempo along until it reached a swift high-spirited beat. Deciding that he may as well get in the mood, he reached down, picked up his mug and drained it in a quick gulp, much to the approval of the dwarves.

And then, smiling devilishly, he reached out for Aragorn and pulled the man up beside him. He snickered and told the no-longer-laughing-ranger, "It is better sung by two!"

Before Aragorn could protest, Legolas started, and he was hard pressed to keep up with the elf in the rollicking tune.

The Imladrisian red wine,
Is certainly more than just divine,
Hey hey!

And yet it simply does not compare,
To Lothlorien's tang, which curls the hair,
Hey hey!

Don't forget old Greenwood's taste,
whose many parties keep it from waste,
Hey hey!

The songs of old speak of Fangorn's Ent-wash,
One sip provides the most excellent nosh,
Hey hey!

Hey, ho! drink it down!
Turn the tongue, erase the frown
(quietly) Listen closely, hear that sound?
(shout) That be the town turnin' upside-down!

Bring the wine, the beer, the ale!
The best of the latter, you'll find in the dale
Hey hey!

Rohan's mead is known far and wide,
Warm's all but the coldest insides,
Hey hey!

The dwarven beer, we must admit,
Is better than most other grit,
Hey hey!

What else there is, we do not know,
But ask us to judge and off we'll go,
Hey hey!

Hey ho! drink it down!
Turn the tongue, erase the frown
(quietly) Listen closely, hear that sound?
(shout) That be us just stumblin' round!

The dwarves cheered as the two finished and sat heavily into their seats. The sturdy folk came forward and clapped them on the back, pressed drinks into their hands, and called for an encore performance. They desisted and listened to more of the dwarven songs, staying up well past midnight. In fact, it was near dawn before they stumbled off to bed.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

The two weeks passed happily for dwarves, man, and elf alike. While some of Durin's folk were still openly hostile, they did not cause trouble, and they were well out-numbered by those who slowly befriended the elf.

Legolas found that he could indeed tolerate the caves enough to be in them for hours at a time, helping the dwarves and learning of their skills with the rock. The combined efforts of Gimli and Aragorn, not to mention an entire team, managed to get him to venture on an expedition into an unexplored section of the caves, emerging with nary a scratch. His sharp eyes had discovered another odd formation, and the dwarves proclaimed that this was proof that he was destined to live underground.

The look of horror that appeared on his face, it was later reported, was no less priceless than an uncut load of gems.

And from the first day, to the day of their departure, Legolas had learned of yet another dwarvish way of life. Dwarves did not take kindly to being called 'little hairy beings', and were apt to plot revenge quickly. They had begun to repay the perpetrator by referring to the elf as 'that scrawny prissy creature'. Legolas instantly responded with numerous variations of his own description. One against several hundred however, was not exactly a favorable odd.

Aragorn wisely remained neutral on the subject.

The ranger mounted Brego and looked about for his friend, who was still on the ground. As a matter of fact, Arod was nowhere to be seen. Before Aragorn could question the elf, Legolas put his fingers to his mouth and blew, producing a piercing whistle that echoed through out the fortress.

In minutes, the clattering of hooves announced the freckled stallion's approach, followed by low cries of dismay as the heavy footsteps of running dwarves came behind it.

Legolas smiled and leapt onto his friend's back, patting the strong neck fondly. "Well done, mellon-nin."

"Legolas, stop torturing the little hairy beings." Aragorn clasped his hand over his mouth looking horrified. It had just slipped out, and he knew repercussions would be swift in coming. Already, the dwarves were muttering about the best adjectives to fit the man. He called a hurried good-bye to Gimli and spurred Brego away.

Legolas laughed, the clear sound hanging in the air long after he was gone. And from far away, the assembled dwarves heard the cry come back on the wind. "I have done my part, bushy-bearded friend! Now it is your turn! Fangorn awaits!"

Fin

.

.

.

AN: Yes, I know, the drinking song again! It's only the second time I've used it, though, so I think it's all right, no?

I was totally blown away by the responses I got for the first part. Thanks everyone, for not throwing objects at me, and for putting up with my 'nasty cliffies', as many of you called them. Tristan-the-Dreamer, Mandanza. Calenlass Greenleaf1, rivendellelve, SilverArtimis, Gord and V, Goddess of Sarcassam, Chibified Youkai 101, LovewithWars, empath89, White Wolf1, Lady Ambreanna, Nelarun, and invisigoth3 are all incredible, amazing people.

Thanks also to everyone who put this story on alert or on their favorites. (grin) I feel oh so special!

That's all for now I believe. Thanks again everyone!