Chapter 3

The sound of chirping was the first thing that the elf became aware of.

Birds? That can't be right. Surely I must be dreaming, but why am I asleep in the first place. I can't recall ever going to sleep. And why is it so dark?

There was the sound of rustling fabric to his side, as if someone was shifting their position, followed by a light cough. At that moment, memory came crashing back to him, quickly accompanied by the feeling of fear.

I was drugged! What are they going to do to me? I remember seeing some crazy cannibalistic men before. Are these people cannibals too? Food is hard to come by, but that is really going beyond that of humane. After all I have survived I will not die like this! I need to escape. But the drugs are still in my system; I'm too weary to fight them. What do I do?

His inner debate was put on pause as he felt a pair of gentle hands probe at an area on his lower left leg. He forcibly made his sluggish eyes open; a task that was seemed foreign to him, so that he could see what was going on.

After opening his eyes, he came upon the sight of the silver eyed man, bending down over his leg, and examining the blood stained bandage with a keen eye.

A whole range of emotions bubbled up inside the elf, ranging from fear, to confusion, to curiosity. It terrified him to have a stranger and potential cannibal so close to him. But why did he seem so concerned about the elf's wound. Injured prey doesn't affect the meat on them, however little there was on him. It made no sense to treat his wound if they were going to kill him anyways.

Disorientingly confused, Legolas decided to push that topic away for the moment and take stock of his surroundings. The man didn't seem to know that his patient was awake, which was fine by him. He really didn't feel like fighting the man, and was almost positive that he would lose any fight at that moment.

He could still hear the faint twittering of songbirds in the area.

Songbirds? I haven't heard a songbird in years. Perhaps it's only my imagination, or maybe some person is simply really good at whistling.

With a mental shrug he continued to take stock of the things around him. He was lying in a tent on his back on top of a thin blanket, but compared to other places he had to sleep in, in the past, this felt like luxury. The blanket was soft, the ground wasn't too hard, and even the grass wasn't particularly prickly. In fact, it almost felt like it was alive. He took a deep breath in the hopes to clear his mind somewhat, and was startled to realize that the cloth that he constantly wore over his nose and mouth was not there.

Fear once again played in his mind, as he raised his hands to clap over his face.

How long was I breathing for without it? I know I still had it on before I was knocked out. Is this how they were planning to kill me? By slowly suffocating to death? Is there no end to people's cruelty?

The stranger looked up from his examination, at the elf's panicked movements. Seeing what the elf was trying to do, and realizing what it was that was making his patient so nervous, he gave a small, kind chuckle.

He spoke soothingly, yet unintelligibly in the common tongue.

"(I don't understand you!)" Legolas yelled, as he tried to back away from the stranger, now that he knew that he was awake.

The stranger frowned slightly and held his hands in the universal sign of "I'm not holding a weapon." He then pointed to his own face to show that he too was not wearing a face cloth.

"The air is safe. It's alright for you to breathe," Aragorn said, as he took a deep breath himself to demonstrate.

Seeing this, the blue eyed figure hesitantly lowered his hands from his nose and mouth, and took a deep breath to both assure himself that it was safe, and to calm his nerves.

"Good. Now, hold still. I need to rewrap your leg," he said, as he took a step forwards. Unfortunately, that one step was enough to set the stranger off again, as he clumsily tried to move away.

However, when the blond tried to stand, Aragorn leapt forwards and forcibly pushed to warrior back to the ground. He hated to use force on a patient, but also knew that it was necessary at times. The blond was still waking up from the drugs, and would likely become nauseous, upon standing up too quickly; also he could cause damage to his injured leg if he put any weight on it too soon.

Even though he was only trying to help, Aragorn still felt a thread of guilt in his chest, as the blue eyed warrior struggled feebly under him.

"Please, just calm down. I'm not going to hurt you," He begged. Frustration was rising up now, as he tried to consider the best choice of action to take with this situation.

It was obvious that the warrior didn't understand a word that he was saying. It was also clear that he was afraid.

Under normal circumstances, the best option would be to give him some space to calm down, but these weren't normal circumstances. This was a warrior he was dealing with, and would continue to fight tooth and nail to escape any perceived danger, and would only just end up hurting himself in that process.

If he didn't want the warrior to get hurt, his only option would be to continue to holding him down, but by doing so he only fueled the panic. Also, since he was using both his hands to hold the blond down, he was unable to treat the wound.

What now? What now?

Just at that moment, when he was debating with himself on what to do, Gimli swung the tent flap open and walked in.

"Aragorn? You wouldn't happen to know-"

"Gimli, please come here. I need help," Aragorn interrupted, as he gestured the dwarf over with his chin, since his hands were already occupied.

Surprise colored the dwarf's face at being interrupted so abruptly, but he quickly regained himself, and hurried over to the ranger's side.

"What do you need?" he asked, as he looked down at the squirming figure.

"Please, just hold him down so that I can properly look at his leg," he requested. With a nod, the dwarf knelt down on the other side of the blond, opposite to Aragorn, and gently placed his large hands on the blonde's shoulders to hold him flush to the ground.

"Easy there laddie. Aragorn is just trying to help you," Gimli said, as the warrior redoubled his efforts to free himself.

With the patient properly restrained, Aragorn firmly grabbed the injured leg right below the knee, which was just above the injury.

He was quite surprised to find that the wound wasn't nearly as bad as it should have been. If it continued to heal at the rate it currently was, it would take no longer than a day or two for the warrior to be well enough to move about. However, for the time being, the limb was not strong enough to support the weight of its owner- however light he may be.

That was another thing that Aragorn was concerned about. The warrior was very slight in weight. He had noticed the lack of weight when he was carrying the stranger into the Shire, but didn't have a chance to address the issue, since the warrior was unconscious. His main worry also resided for the warrior's leg at the time.

Now, however, since the main issue had been taken care of, he decided it was time to get some proper nourishment into the warrior, that and he also needed to look at the warrior's hands. It was true that food was hard to come by, but here in the Shire, they had made managed to make a bit of a living for themselves. Life was only slightly more abundant in the Shire, and through a lot of hard work, they had managed to actually grow a few small crops. There was also a greater amount of game to be found in the area than there was in others, but the greatest miracle was the stream that flowed straight through the Shire. Unlike most other streams that flowed throughout Adra, this one was clear and clean. It was the stream that made life in the Shire possible.

He gently yet forcibly took one of the warrior's wrists to examine the palm of his hand. Carefully, he wiped away all the dried blood and dirt, so that he could properly look at the cut. Like the stranger's leg, the injury was doing much better than expected. The cuts weren't even bleeding any more. All he really needed to do was wrap up the palm to keep the cuts clean. Once both of the stranger's hands were taken care of, he then turned his attention back to the dwarf.

"Thank you for holding him, my friend. You had a question for me?" Aragorn asked, as he took Gimli's place as the one to hold down the stranger.

"Aw, yes. I was wondering if you happened to know where Gandalf wondered off to. I was meaning to ask 'im something," He replied, as he sat back on his knees; patiently waiting an answer from the ranger.

Aragorn opened his mouth to reply that, no he didn't know where the old wizard was, but was interrupted by a shy yet musical voice, from the ground.

"Gandalf?" The stranger questioned - all previous struggle put on hold as he asked that one word.

"Gandalf? Isimleri? Mithrandir? elvellon?"

Hesitantly, Aragorn allowed the stranger to sit up. It was obvious that he recognized the wizard's name, and he appeared to have calmed down quite a bit after hearing the name. An idea presented itself to him in his head. Perhaps the old man could help.

"Please do try and find him Gimli, and when you do, bring him here directly."

With that said, the dwarf gave a curt nod before exiting the tent once more. With a hopeful smile on his face, Aragorn turned back to face the stranger.

"Well then, now that we're alone," he said, as he stood and walked across to the other side of the tent where a plate sat. "Would you like something to eat?" he finished, holding out the plate to show the bread on it to the stranger.

Gandalf? How would they know Gandalf? Are they holding him as a hostage? I haven't even heard a word of him since the fall of Mirkwood. How did he end up here of all places? Where even is here?

Looking up sharply, Legolas glared dangerously at the stranger, as he held out the plate.

Does he truly believe that I will allow myself to be drugged once again?

Rather than wait for the man to approach, Legolas sprang unsteadily to his feet and ran/limped to the back of the tent, where he then crawled out from under the heavy canvas. He heard the clatter of a tray being dropped, and heard the protests of the stranger, but paid no attention to him. He darted out into the open, where he promptly came to a stop, where he stared at his surroundings with wide eyes.

How is this possible? The world is alive here!

Tears came to the Elf's eyes as for the first time since the world fell, he could hear the world around him trying to communicate. There were no voices. All of the trees that once knew how to speak had died before they could teach others, but he could feel the emotions of everything around him. He could sense the music.

There was a strong sense of melancholy, but also an undertone of joy at being alive. It was too much for him to take in at once, and he was completely overcome by their strong emotions.

The trees became so excited when they felt the elf's consciousness brush against their own, that they pushed even more of their emotions onto the elf; not realizing that they were overwhelming him.

With a whimper, he sank down to his knees with his head cradled in both hands.

I am glad to feel you too, but please, you all are hurting me. This is all too much too soon.

But the trees didn't understand. They certainly didn't want their new friend to be in pain; they simply didn't understand that they were the cause, and in an attempt to comfort him, they pushed their consciousnesses further into him.

That was the sight that Aragorn came upon. The elf curled up on the ground, with his hands clasped over his head in pain. Legolas was vaguely aware of the stranger running up to him, and knew that he needed to run away, but try as he might, he couldn't get his limbs to do what his mind was telling them.

Please stop! I must flee! I must get away!

The trees didn't understand the meaning of the words, but they could feel the emotion and intent behind the words. They realized that their new friend wanted to leave. It was at that moment that the trees found a voice to speak their first word.

"NO!

"Be still. Please do not try and run. I mean only to help you," Aragorn said, as he dropped down next to the pained creature. He carefully pulled the stranger's hands away from his head so that it could be possible to try and see what was wrong. The stranger just curled up even tighter, and took pained gasps through his teeth.

What is wrong with him? I've never seen something like this before. Perhaps it's a reaction to the drug? But if that is so, why didn't he react to it sooner? I only wish that I were a more knowledgeable healer.

He than tried to make the stranger straighten out. He couldn't see the stranger's head with him curled up, and it was only too obvious that that was where the pain was located.

He fought with the stranger for a moment before giving a reluctant sigh. He forced the stranger onto his back, then straddled him to sit on waist, giving himself better leverage over the stranger, as well as a better view of his head. He grappled with the stranger's arms for a moment before pinning them across his chest, and holding them immobile with both a hand and knee.

With his free hand, Aragorn gently parted the stranger's hair in an attempt to find the source of the pain.

"What is heaven's name is going on here?" an ancient, yet authoritative voice demanded.

Aragorn looked up to behold the old wizard, Gandalf, in all of his perplexed glory. Gimli stood near the wizard's side, watching the unfolding scene in similar bafflement. It was at that moment that the stranger yelled out in pain in the beautiful yet unintelligible language of his.

The wizard's eyes widened in surprise and recognition, before kneeling down next to the stranger. Placing a hand on the pained creature's forehead, he closed his eyes in concentration, before mumbling an incantation. The tip of the wizard's staff glowed blue for a brief moment, before the stranger stilled; breathing heavily to catch his breath.

"Feeling better, mell edhel?" Gandalf asked, as the stranger regained control over his breathing.

Slowly, the stranger cracked his eyes open, and smiled elegantly up at the the old wizard.

("Gandalf. It's such a relief to hear a familiar voice, even if I can't understand half of what you are saying,") Legolas said, as the the pain from the trees withdrew.

He could still feel them on the edge of his mind, but he was no longer painfully over whelmed by them.

The wizard fround. ("When Gimli here said that Aragorn required assistance for caring for a skittish stranger, I never anticipated that that stranger would end up being one of the firstborn. How is it that you came to be here?")

("I haven't a clue as to where 'here' even is. I was drugged before I was carried into this haven. However, I must say, this land is unlike any in the present world. How is it that this land is filled with so much life?") Legolas asked, as he looked up at the bemused wizard from his position on his back.

("The inhabitants of this area are of a hearty folk. With the help of myself and some others, we managed to restore some of this land's beauty. You will find no enemies here, in the Shire. Now tell me mell edhel, What is your name?") Gandalf asked.

Legolas frowned. He had completely forgotten about the man restraining him, in favor of looking up at the Wizard. ("You don't remember my face Gandalf? I know I must look different, but I never anticipated being completely unrecognized. It is I, Gandalf. Legolas,") He said, looking up into the wizard's grey eyes.

Recognition flashed within the grey orbs, and a smile stretched across his withered face. "Legolas Greenleaf! How good it is to see you. It is good to know that you still live, and walk upon this earth," The Wizard exclaimed, switching to the common tongue in his excitement.

The elf looked blankly at him for a moment, trying to recall the meaning to the words that he had said, but ultimately failing.

("Forgive me, I am having difficulty recalling the language of men. Can you repeat what you said?")

The wizard looked a bit surprised by this revelation, before nodding.

("I was only saying that it is good to see you. Now tell me. How did your becoming pinned by Aragorn come about?")

Translations:

elvellon - Elf friend

Mell edhel - Dear elf

Hello to everyone of internet land. I am sincerely sorry for my utter failure of updating, but given the current predicament of my life, I found writing a fictional story to be rather low on my priorities list. You see, my grandfather is now one his deathbed, and I have been spending the great majority of my time caring for him, as well as just spending time with him. I hope that the longer chapter can help to partly make up for my neglect.

I will also take this time to apologize for the future, seeing as finals are coming up, and grandpa is still holding on; my time for future writing will be very limited, but once my life gets back into order I promise that there will be regular updates.

Thank you for your patients.

You are a beautiful person.