A/N: So here is chapter TWO a little earlier than I previously anticipated. Enjoy :) again, go easy on me. Not sure when Three will be up. I JUST finished two so...yeah.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. J.R.R Tolkien owns this wonderful world and the characters within, except for Randiriel, Alassiel, Amras, and whatever else I manage to make up along with my own plot.
Chapter Two
The navy, velvet sky began to bleed into the burning magenta and peach of the sunset. Hwesta's nostrils flared red as Randiriel pulled her back from their dash across the plains.
"We must rest the horses," Legolas said, pulling up beside her.
Randiriel nodded her agreement and they found an outcropping of rocks to settle under. Birds flitted by, making the return journey to their nests and a light breeze played across the reedy plain. Hwesta hungrily snatched at wisps of grass as Randiriel removed her sweaty saddle and blanket.
"Here," Legolas said, tossing her an end of bread.
She bit off an end and plopped down to the ground, staring back out across the land they had covered in their afternoon of riding. Hwesta snorted at the bugs that attempted to slow her forward progress of eating as much grass as equinely possible. Legolas managed a smile as he watched the plucky mare.
"You might want to make sure she does not wander too far," he said, covering his laugh.
Randiriel ignored him, lost in her thoughts as he began going through their remaining supplies. She was not cold, but pulled her cloak tighter around her body as though trying to ward off the darkest thoughts of Alassiel.
"I wish to check the area. I will be above the rocks if you need me," he said, before disappearing.
She rested her head against the rocks and shut her eyes.
xXx
"Hold your hands more like this," her father said, readjusting her grip on the bow.
Randiriel stuck her tongue between her teeth and concentrated on the targets before her. Her father slowly and softly crept away from her and tugged a rope at the side of the set-up. The targets began to move, swaying wildly from side to side and forward and backward.
She aimed and felt the twang of the bow string as she released her first arrow. Her lips split into a wide smile as she hit the first target she sighted head on.
"Keep paying attention," her father instructed. "Enemies will not give you a celebration moment when you fell a comrade of theirs."
Randiriel frowned, silently chastising herself for forgetting a cardinal rule she knew like the back of her hand. She drew another arrow from her quiver and sighted her next target. She was about to fire when a familiar drawling voice came through the woods.
"Should you not be using a bow more suited to your size?"
She turned to retort, her arrow skewing completely off track and embedding itself in a tall tree branch. Teasing blue eyes met hers and she started to laugh.
"I could outshoot you any day," she quickly replied.
Legolas raised an eyebrow and picked up her father's spare bow. Randiriel's father watched from beside the targets as the two elves ran off a series of shots, hitting the remaining targets. Legolas placed the bow reverently back on the ground.
"May I speak with your daughter a moment?" he asked her father.
She watched as her father nodded, along with a slight bow to the prince's high standing. Her father was not one to waste words. He laid a hand upon her shoulder before leaving the wooded practice field.
"What might be so important that my father could not even hear it?" she mock demanded, settling her bow and quiver upon her back.
Legolas waved for her to follow him through the woods, his bright white gold hair swinging as he picked up a light jog. She sighed and followed his lithe form through the woods. Probably some ridiculous prank he had schemed up. For all their joking, she trusted him with her life. Fast friends since they could first form words, the two went most everywhere together. Her mother joked that she acted more like a young ellon than a blooming elleth. Randiriel would always turn bright red and push her mother's hand away as it reached to stroke back the errant strands of hair that framed her face. Not much had changed over the years. Legolas still had to please his father and various suitors at court, but he found time to roam the woods with Randiriel. Most of the time they laughed at the overbearing traditions of the court.
Legolas only stopped when he was sure they were far enough from prying ears.
"Did I hear correct? You are trying to join the Guard?" he demanded, his princely manner falling, his normally smooth features clouded with an unexpected anger.
Randiriel opened and closed her mouth. She thought how much she probably looked like a fish gaping as it wriggled out of the water, caught on a hook.
"Why does this bother you? Of all the elves, I thought you would understand. A change of tide has been predicted and I wish to be ready."
Legolas stalked in front of her, running an agitated hand along the fine hem of his light tunic. He didn't know how to explain this to her without sounding like he was overly concerned for her safety, which he was. Randiriel was flighty. Countless times he had seen her father approached by other ellons, hopeful of courting her. Her father would always give them a nod of the head and watch in amusement as Randiriel disposed of each of the courters.
He smirked as he remembered Amras trying to stake a claim many years before. That had not gone well. He distinctly remembered the ellon flying headfirst into the river after trying to lay a sneaky kiss upon Randiriel's lips.
"Legolas! Why are you smirking?"
He jerked out of his thoughts.
"I am bothered because you are still in training," he quickly supplied. A grin lit his features as he found another line to pull.
"Besides, if you are to be a member of the guard that is in my humble service, I don't believe you are quite prepared enough to save my neck," he said with a fierce grin, taking immense pleasure in the red hot blush that raced across Randiriel's fair cheeks.
She began to stammer a retort, barely able to form coherent words when he burst into a full fit of laughter. She struggled to keep her shoulders from shaking, but soon joined him. She wiped at her eyes.
"I know you are joking. I have been practicing with my father and you for years."
Legolas sobered as she returned to her desire to join the Guard. His light joking would not deter her from taking this path.
He started to walk again, watching as she fell into step beside him. They continued in silence for a while, hearing nothing but the brief whisper of the vibrant green leaves sliding past each other in the breeze and the flap of the wings of birds.
"Legolas, why?" she prompted again.
They stopped and he tried to look her in the eye, but couldn't. He felt his gaze fall as he mumbled out his dreaded response.
"I do not want to see you hurt," he muttered.
Randiriel observed him with a raised eyebrow and then laughed.
"So do not watch," she snorted back. Legolas, again, said nothing.
"You can stop joking now," she said, still trying to contain her laugh.
He looked up at her and frowned, watching her expression shift from light laughter to confusion.
"Why are you suddenly worried about me?"
Legolas turned around abruptly, almost knocking her over. His expression was one that Randiriel did not often see on his face when in her company. He reached for her hand, thinking of a way to voice his thoughts.
"We have been friends a very long time -"
"What are you -" she began in a panicked rush.
"Can you let me finish?" he said, not without a little anger at her flighty response. "I wanted to say, we have been friends for a very long time and I have grown fond of your company. And I know your family would grieve to see you lost as well."
"My father approves of this decision," she replied quickly.
He watched her, trying to catch her eyes, but she cast them down and shifted uncomfortably.
"Do you not trust my ability?" she questioned him again.
He most certainly did not. He distrusted battles and freak accidents, knowing how even the most skilled of warriors fell to a lucky swoop of the sword by an enemy. He would not see her crumpled upon the sword or arrow of an enemy. He also knew, should she become a member of the Guard, he wasn't going to be able to keep an eagle eye on her at every moment.
"That is not an answer," she said, hurt by his silence.
He opened his mouth and she waited, expectantly. But he couldn't bring himself to say anything. She turned and stalked off.
"Randiriel!" he called to her receding figure.
She didn't turn.
He kicked at a thick stick, resisting his urge to let out a frustrated yell. He had certainly blown it now.
xXx
"Randiriel!"
Her eyelids fluttered open at the rough, hurried whisper that disrupted her uneasy rest.
Legolas appeared, his silver blonde hair windswept with the night and his running. His bright blue eyes clouded with a troubled storm.
"We have to move. Orcs just to the west of us. They are following our hoof prints."
He hurriedly began repacking the saddle bags and tacking his horse. Randiriel slowly rose from the ground, still in a slight daze as she dusted off her traveling cloak. She gave a low whistle and Hwesta trotted up to her, mouth still full of the sweet grasses she had been devouring earlier. She butted her head into Randiriel's hands, letting the elf run her hands along the mare's strong, flat face and into her downy forelock.
"Andi!" Legolas whispered again with urgency, using her old nickname that she hadn't heard in many, many years.
Truthfully, the name snapped her out of her reverie. She picked her saddle up off the ground and gracefully placed it on Hwesta's back, cinching the girth and smoothing her saddle pad in fluid motions. She slipped the cold metal bit into Hwesta's mouth and swung into the saddle.
"We are close to Fangorn," she said. "We can lose them in the forest, or hope to escape by the mere speed of our mounts."
Legolas nodded. They still had a ride to Fangorn, and the Orcs would not stop just because of the border of a forest. But they were Wood Elves, capable of losing themselves among the trees. He also knew it would slow their chase of Alassiel.
"Lead the way," he said with an incline of his head.
Randiriel turned Hwesta, the mare protesting at the harsh hand and pushed her onward toward the dark huddling shadow of Fangorn forest.
Legolas kneaded his knuckles along the mane of his mount, leaning forward in the saddle as he asked for more speed. He could still hear the heavy tramping feet of the Orcs, could still smell their rotten breath, see the yellow of their eyes. He gave an involuntary shudder. After the War, he had little desire to see more of their kind than necessary.
He narrowed his eyes as he drew even with Randiriel and Hwesta. He looked over at the horse and rider, watching the concentration on her face as she stayed low to Hwesta's mane, whispering encouragement to the mare.
The forest was looming ever closer and she was trying to not to think of the lost days they would spend winding their way through its dark system of swollen roots and twisted branches. But she also wished to live long enough to find Alassiel. And then tie her to a chair so she might never wander away again. She pulled Hwesta up a bit, wanting to reserve some of the mare's energy. She let a smile play on her lips as she remembered how her mother used to threaten her sister with that same punishment. Alassiel would have done something childish, such as stick one of her father's arrows in with their mother's sewing. Or bring home some stray, wounded animal from the woods, trying to nurse it back to health, but only making a mess of their mother's medicine cabinet in the process. She was a restless child. Was. Randiriel's chest caught at the thought. She shook her head, pushing the memories and worries simultaneously away.
Legolas had slowed with her. In her thoughts, she had let Hwesta wander so close to his mount that their legs bumped together. She looked up, startled. Legolas watched her, finally reaching for her hand and squeezing her thin hand between his.
"We are almost there," he said.
She nodded and pulled her hand away.
Legolas closed his eyes and took a calming breath. He had volunteered to help her find Alassiel, but he sincerely wondered when she would let her icy hatred thaw. He had not left for the War on favorable terms with Randiriel, but he hadn't thought it something irreparable. He opened his eyes to her dismounting from Hwesta and leading the anxious mare forward. Hwesta snorted and pranced at the end of the bridle as she was coaxed under the tree line of Fangorn.
"Túl Hwesta!" Randiriel huffed at the mare.
Hwesta snorted and dug in to her hocks, the whites of her eyes showing.
"Silly mare," she muttered under her breath, letting the reins go slack. She walked up to the mare's neck and gave her a frustrated, but loving pat.
"Any ideas?" she asked Legolas.
He had watched the whole display with a look of wonder. Hwesta was loyal. She would follow Randiriel into the bloodiest of battles. But Fangorn seemed to have put her in a tailspin. He dismounted and fished some old vegetables out of one of the packs. He tossed them over to Randiriel.
"See if she is just being difficult. This is not like her."
She nodded her agreement and spoke soothingly to the mare, who had begun to tremble in the shadow of the forest. That was when they heard the trees begin to groan and creak.
"Legolas, you said you traveled through this forest recently with Gimli," murmured Randiriel, trying to hold the slight quaver out of her voice. No way would she let him see she was unhinged by the noise of Fangorn.
"We did and encountered nothing. Just the forest."
He was becoming increasingly concerned as Hwesta broke out into a sweat and pawed her front hoof, digging at the dirt.
Then they heard the rasp of a sword being unsheathed and the guttural growling of the Orcs.
"I thought they were to the West of us!" she whispered.
Legolas's eyes grew wide as a group of tall Orcs crept from the shadows. Knowing the Ents great displeasure with the race of Orcs, these creatures could not have been lurking in the forest. They must have followed them from elsewhere and then used the shadows to creep up on them. These could not be the Orcs from the West. The trees continued to groan as Legolas pulled an arrow from his quiver and fit it to his bow, silently praising Hwesta's instincts. He let an arrow fly and quickly went to fit another as the Orcs charged forward.
Randiriel spun a sword in her hand after removing it from Hwesta's saddle. The mare reared behind her, but stood her ground as the elf ran forward, slicing and hacking at the first Orc she could reach. It felt good to feel her sword cut through the layers of flesh, muscle, and bone, releasing the tension of her grief. She watched the sneer fixed upon the open mouth of the Orc, his slimy, yellowing teeth emitting a steady gush of black red blood as he fell to the Earth, his eyes still. But she wasn't paying attention.
"Andi!"
She looked up in time to roll away as another larger Orc swung an axe deep into the dirt where she had been standing not a half a second before. She swung her sword in her hand and tried to slice back at her attacker. The size advantage he had soon took its toll as she was forced to roll away again from the pressure of his sword upon her glittering blade. Legolas desperately shot an arrow, trying to hit the massive Orc. It skittered off his armor and Hwesta danced away from it as it slid near her hooves. She snorted and shook her head up and down.
"I know, Hwesta," he thought to himself, silently berating his off shot.
He felt heat coming from behind and turned just in time to stick his knives into another approaching Orc, losing sight of Randiriel as he twisted and removed his blades from the tumbling body. He heard a yell as he spun to meet another attacker. Randiriel seemed fine, but he realized he was wrong as blood dotted the ground by her feet. He quickly disposed of the last Orc nearing him and pulled an arrow from his quiver.
Randiriel was in a losing battle. Her size, a blessing for riding fast across the plains or running through the forest, was proving her downfall against the large Orc. He towered over her, angered at the nips and slices her blade had managed to sneak in. He saw her tiring and his jagged teeth stretched in a menacing smile. Randiriel gave a desperate upward thrust of her sword to ward off yet another attack, just as an arrow sprouted from the Orc's neck. His cheeks twitched and he slowly sunk to the ground. She ran the blade through his neck before turning angrily to her traveling companion.
"I was fine!" she yelled.
Legolas wiped his knives clean and began salvaging arrows, avoiding her gaze as he muttered his response.
"Didn't look fine."
She continued to glare at him, her shoulder still bleeding freely onto the ground.
"Do you wish to die?"
He was finally looking at her. No. Looking through her. He began to realize she would not continue the journey back to Ithilien should the worst have happened to Alassiel. His expression softened.
"Let me look at your shoulder."
"It's fine. I have had enough of your favors this evening."
She whistled for Hwesta and the mare dutifully trotted over, immediately nuzzling her mistress, searching her all over as she would a foal. She reached into her pack and pulled out several bandages.
"We shouldn't risk a fire tonight. Let's press on."
Legolas shook his head.
"We can hide in the shadows. The other band of Orcs is still far behind us," he said before pointing to her shoulder again. "You need to see to that."
She angrily pushed him off.
"I was a member of the Forest Guard, if you do not recall. Or maybe you still think me unworthy of such a position?"
"I only argued your position on the Guard to protect you and you know that!"
Randiriel snorted before stalking off to the shadows, ripping the bandage in half with the help of her teeth. She removed her cloak, frowning at the jagged rip through it. She would have to mend that as well as her leather jerkin, tunic, and under shirt. She winced as she removed the first layers, the wound burning like a hot coal were pressed to it. Legolas looked on, but turned away when she found his eyes and her hot glare burned a hole through his own blue stare. He threw the pack he was holding to the ground and stalked over to her.
"Your pride is unbecoming of a Guard, lady."
He took the bandage from her and forced her back into the dirt with a strong hand. He took the ointment she had been holding and gingerly applied some to the wound. He took the bandage and began wrapping it around her upper arm and shoulder, not letting his eyes wander anywhere else, namely her thin, sleeveless undershirt. He looked up, expecting to be met with more hostility. But she rested her head back against the trunk of the tree, her eyes shut and her mouth set in a grim line. Well, this was better than the recent barrage of snide comments he had been receiving. He soon finished and handed her back her clothing, careful to keep his eyes away from her once more.
"Let's travel a little farther into the forest and then take a rest. The horses could use it."
She didn't argue as she dressed. Hwesta trotted up with his mount. She went straight to Randiriel and stood steady as she reached a hand into the mare's mane. She pulled herself into the saddle again and Hwesta walked willingly into Fangorn.
Legolas mounted up behind her and jogged to catch up. Randiriel spoke when he drew even with her.
"You were right," she said.
He twisted sideways to look at her.
"About?"
"My shoulder."
"And what about not returning to Ithilien if we don't find Alassiel?"
"Who said I wouldn't?" she retorted. But he was not convinced.
They walked on in silence for a little longer.
"We will find her," he said yet again.
She kept silent as she pulled Hwesta up and swung herself down from the saddle.
"Let's settle here," she said.
They did not unpack much from their mounts, just in case other Orcs stayed nearby and they had to move quickly. Legolas sat on the ground by a large tree, wide blue eyes alert. Randiriel played with her knife in the dirt, tracing patterns and shapes in the darkness. The horses stayed by her side.
Legolas was beginning to figure out just how deeply her composure was cracked, how close she was to losing herself in the process of coming to terms with her lost sister.
"Andi, why did you stay?" he finally asked.
"I stayed for Alassiel. She loves this world. We grew up here. Our father died protecting it. We both would not consider leaving it. And now I have lost everything."
She said the last part bitterly, her soul feeling cold and brittle.
"Not everything," Legolas replied from the darkness.
"What would you know of it?" she snapped back at him.
"More than you think I know. Do not forget who you address!"
She heard him get up and swing himself up into the tree.
Fine. If he wanted to stalk off and sulk, that was his choice. If she left tomorrow without him, it would be a blessing.
xXx