Beta: Kalisona (amazing work, as always)

Translations:

ion nín – my son

penneth – young one

mellon nín – my friend

Ada – father (dad, daddy)

peredhel – half-elf; peredhil – half-elves

Goheno nin – forgive me

Chapter 5

Elrond shifted uneasily. He had noticed the abrupt change in his son, and it worried him.

"Rest now, ion nín." He spoke softly. "All is well. I will prepare more of the antidote; you will need a few more doses. And I should make some for Elrohir," he added to himself.

"Ro and Dan are here?" Estel suddenly raised his head. "Are they…" he trailed off and looked at his father expectantly, afraid to continue.

Elrond had no trouble guessing what the human wanted to ask. "No, they are not angry at you, Estel. Just like me, they regret what they told you."

The young man still seemed insecure, so the elf smiled at him reassuringly. "Your brothers still love you, my son. They always have. I told you, penneth, all bonds of love and friendship can withstand all trials."

Almost all bonds, Aragorn thought bitterly. A bond he had always considered so strong, one of the strongest he had ever formed, was broken beyond repair. Just like his heart. But if it was broken, why did it hurt so much?

He couldn't blame Legolas for leaving him. Obviously what he had said had hurt his friend deeply. He wished to turn back time, to never say those things, but what was done was done. He couldn't hope that Legolas would ever forgive him.

His mind suddenly registered something he had heard before. "Ada, you said you are going to prepare some antidote for Ro!" His voice was filled with worry. "Was he bitten?"

"Yes." Elrond nodded grimly. "Although not as much as you. He will be fine, don't worry."

"Where are they?" Aragorn asked and looked around. He didn't understand why his brothers would leave.

Elrond sighed and looked away.

"They had to make sure that no spiders are left," he said hastily. The Elven Lord was a poor liar and he hated lying to his son, but it seemed to be the best thing to do. Estel's health was unstable, and worry over his best friend would do him no good. He didn't know how much pain he would have spared the young ranger if he had simply told him the truth.

"You mean they left with Ro poisoned?" Aragorn didn't accept the situation easily. "He didn't even drink the antidote?"

"I gave him some herbs that will slow the poison," Elrond replied. "Elladan will make sure he takes them. Your brothers are fine, ion nín, at least, they are much better off than you are. Rest now, your body needs strength to fight the toxins. We will go back home when they return."

Estel nodded and rested his head on his foster father's shoulder. I hope you are also well, mellon nín, was his last thought before he drifted into a troubled sleep.

---

"El, do you have the herbs Ada gave you?" Elladan looked at his twin.

Elrohir only nodded and walked forward, following the tracks.

"You need to chew them and keep them under your tongue," the older twin instructed.

"I know," Elrohir replied, slightly irritated. "I know as much about healing as you do."

"Well, you don't seem to apply your knowledge." Elladan wasn't going to give in so easily.

"I'm fine, El," his younger brother said, sounding frustrated. "I'll chew them, but first I want to make sure that Legolas-" He suddenly stopped and gaped in horror at the view. The twins had reached a small clearing, and the scene they saw through the trees made their blood freeze in their veins.

An orc camp. No more than ten orcs were lying on the ground asleep, and three more were patrolling around. But the elves weren't looking at the orcs. All they could see was the slim figure bound to a tree.

Bruises decorated the otherwise perfect face, and his clothes were torn and bloody. It was obvious that the elf had been tortured. But this was not so unusual for the elven prince. They had seen Legolas hurt before, and although it pained and angered them to see their friend like that, it was not something they had not been prepared for.

What they weren't prepared for was the golden hair falling freely around their friend's head, falling to… a bit shorter than shoulder length.

How dared they?!

"They will pay for this," Elrohir hissed. His right hand was trembling on the hilt of his sword, and he was barely containing his anger. "They will pay, I swear."

His brother only nodded, his own eyes shimmering with rage, and with a battle cry, the twins rushed into the clearing.

---

He was running through the rain, his feet sinking into the heavy mud. Lightning tore the sky and the thunder that followed made him wince. He had to get away.

The orcs were coming after him, and he had lost his weapons in the fight. There was no chance to fight them. Aragorn ran on and on, until he reached the edge of a cliff. He stared in despair when he saw the orcs appear before him. This was the end.

He took an instinctive step backwards, but his foot slipped on the muddy ground. With a cry of surprise, he fell into the abyss.

One of the orcs approached the edge and spotted the young man hanging on a branch. It was obvious that he couldn't hold on much longer.

"It seems the little scum is going to die soon." The evil creature grinned. "Come on," he called to his companions. "Our work is done."

Soon everything quieted, and the only sound Aragorn could hear was the wild beating of his own heart. His grip on the branch was loosening. He knew that he couldn't hold on for more than a minute or two.

Suddenly a face appeared over the edge. The young ranger sighed with relief. He was saved!

"Legolas!" He called. "Help me!"

The elf raised an eyebrow, looking surprised. "Why?"

The man blinked in shock. "You must help me, my friend! I will fall!"

"Your friend?" The elf asked. "Since when am I your friend?"

"You have always been, Legolas! Always!" Aragorn shouted. The situation was starting to scare him.

"Oh, is that so? I think last time we met you told me something else," he said, and walked away.

"Legolas!" The young man shouted in despair. "Legolas!" He felt he was loosing his grip. Suddenly the branch slipped from in between his fingers and he flew towards the bottom of the chasm.

"No!" His own scream woke him.

"Estel!" Someone was calling his name. "Estel, look at me!"

The ranger took a look around and realized that he had been sleeping in his fathers arms in the middle of a small clearing, surrounded by spider bodies.

"It was just a dream, my son," Elrond said soothingly. "All is well now."

A dream. Estel closed his eyes as he remembered what he had dreamed about. He had had so many nightmares, filled with fear and horror, but nothing could have compared to this. Nothing could be more terrible and frightening than the vision in that last nightmare.

Elrond noted with concern that the young man was shaking violently, and his brow was covered with cold sweat. He knew that the spider poison wasn't completely out of Estel's body, and was afraid that maybe it was causing strange visions.

"It was just a dream, Estel," he repeated. "Nothing more."

The man took a look around, and his gaze finally rested on a familiar arrow stuck in a spider's body. No, it wasn't just a dream. It was the truth.

---

The attack surprised the orcs. Two of them were slain in their sleep, but the rest soon awoke and quickly prepared to meet the two elves.

Elladan turned around and swung his blade, cutting an orc's head off. Then he ducked to avoid a scimitar aimed at his chest and threw one of his hunting knives in the direction of his assailant.

An orc jumped at him from behind and knocked him to the ground. Elladan turned over and trust his blade in his attacker's chest, and pushed the dead body away from him. He spared a quick look to the left to see how his brother fared. What he saw made him gasp in dismay.

Elrohir had fallen to his knees, having a hard time fighting a single orc. His movements seemed slow and uncoordinated.

Since the younger twin entered the battle, he noticed that his body was much weaker than usual. The poison… He sighed in frustration. Of course the toxins were still in his blood. Why didn't he chew the herbs when he had had the time?

Elrohir took out the herbs, but someone kicked him, and he fell, dropping them into the mud. The rest of the fight was a blur to him. Soon the world started spinning and he didn't know who he was fighting.

"El!" His brother's cry took him out of his stupor. He tried to rise to his feet, but a fierce blow on his head sent him falling forward. "El!" Elladan's panicked scream resounded in his ears. As he fell, he noticed two blue eyes, watching him in horror.

"I'm sorry, mellon nín," he whispered to Legolas before his face sank into the mud.

An orc grinned and crouched over Elrohir. "Surrender or I will kill him." He turned towards the older twin. "We will kill them both." He pointed at another orc, who walked towards Legolas.

Elladan paled. He knew it had been silly to attack without making a plan first, but when he had seen what they had done to Legolas, his fury had blinded him and he couldn't think clearly. The truth was that that they had had very good chances against the orcs, but he had never thought about the fact that his brother hadn't recovered from the spider venom.

But it was too late for regret now. Elladan dropped his weapons and let the orcs bind him.

The twins were bound to two trees next to Legolas. Elladan noticed that his friend was gagged, and that only added to his anger. Well, Legolas couldn't talk to them, but nothing could stop him from talking to his friend.

"I'm so sorry we couldn't help you, mellon nín," he whispered and carefully examined the prisoner. He had sustained many injuries, but Elladan didn't know if any of them were life-threatening.

"Are you badly hurt?" He asked worriedly. "Nod if you are."

To his dismay, Legolas gave no indication that he had heard his words. The elf kept looking down, as if unwilling to meet his gaze. As if he was ashamed of something.

Elladan sighed. What had happened must have been terrible for his friend. "I know how horrible you feel, mellon nín," he spoke softly. "But do not worry. It will grow again."

Legolas raised his head in confusion. What was the twin talking about? What would grow again?

And then it struck him. His hair! Elladan thought he was upset about his hair! Anger and disbelief flashed though the blue orbs. I don't care about the hair, you fool! He thought. Your brother is dying, most probably he is already dead, and it is my fault! But then he looked down again. He couldn't look Elladan in the eyes. Would the dark-haired elf be so kind to him if he knew he was talking to his little brother's murderer?

His friend's behavior confused and worried Elladan.

"Legolas, look at me!" He shouted in despair, but the elf didn't seem to hear him.

One of the orcs suddenly looked up and stared at the golden-haired prisoner. He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but suddenly closed it and grinned mysteriously. None of the other orcs seemed to notice this.

---

"Ada, they should be back by now!" Estel was getting restless. "Maybe something happened."

Elrond didn't know what to tell him. He was also worried, but it was perfectly normal for the twins to take so long to return. The orcs might have taken Legolas far away, and it would take time to track them and save the prince. But he couldn't tell this to his son.

"Maybe they returned to Imladris," he offered. "I told them that we'll be heading back home when you wake up, so maybe they decided to meet us there."

The young man studied his foster father carefully.

"Ada, this makes no sense. If they really went to make sure all spiders were dead, they wouldn't go far away." The peredhel looked away, and this only added to his doubts.

"Ada, is there something I need to know?" He asked suddenly.

Elrond paled for a second, but then stared firmly at his son. "All you need to know is that you are poisoned by spider venom and we need to get you home soon. I've given you the basic antidote, but there are more medicines you need to take, and I don't have them with me. So we are going home."

"But, Ada-"

"No objections, Estel, we are going and that's it." Elrond's voice sounded almost angry now. He was quite worried about his son's wellbeing and wasn't sure how to answer him.

The young man reluctantly got on his unsteady feet and gave a last glance to the dark forest.

---

The orcs had gone to sleep once again, leaving just one guard. Only six orcs had survived the elves' attack.

The captors had decided to remove Legolas' gag, but this didn't mean that the prince was talking. In fact he was as quiet as before.

Elrohir raised his head groggily and tried to focus on his friend.

"Mellon nín, please talk to me! What happened?"

To his utter dismay, the elf only sobbed and closed his eyed. The twins looked at him, patiently waiting for the moment he would be ready to talk. They had almost given up hope that he would speak at all when Legolas finally raised his head. His ocean-blue eyes were filled with tears.

"Estel is dead," he whispered. "This is what happened." I killed him, he was about to add, but couldn't find the strength to say it.

The peredhil brothers exchanged a surprised glance, but Elladan quickly realized where the misunderstanding was coming from. "Estel is alive, Legolas!" He quickly said. "We found him and killed the spiders. Ada is with him now."

Legolas turned large hopeful eyes towards them. "You found him!" So his hopes had come true. Someone had managed to find his friend before it was too late. "Did you speak with him?"

"No," Elrohir sadly shook his head. "He was unconscious when we left."

"Is he going to be alright?" The prince asked worriedly.

"Ada was preparing an antidote when we left. I'm sure he will know how to help him."

"This is all my fault," Legolas sobbed quietly. But then he suddenly raised his head and stared at the twins. No, it wasn't all his fault! Suddenly all the rage he had directed towards himself turned outwards.

"How could you say that to him?!" He shouted at them.

The brothers once again looked at each other, surprised by the sudden change in their friend.

"How could you tell him those things?!" Legolas shouted angrily. "How could you tell him that he wasn't your brother anymore? Do you know how broken he was when he came to me?!"

For a second, fury showed through Elladan's tearful eyes.

"You have no idea what you are talking about! Do you know how it feels to have your little sister taken away from you? Because if she ever returns his love, she will be taken away from us for all of eternity. Do you know how hard it was when we lost our mother, Legolas? I couldn't bear the loss of another family member. It is hard enough to know that I will one day lose Estel. But to lose Arwen… it would be unbearable. And we are going to see our mother again. But if Arwen decides to choose a mortal life, we will be separated forever."

Legolas looked at him, this time unable to control his own tears.

"Goheno nin, mellon nín," he whispered softly. He felt that he had just opened a deep wound. "I did not know of what I was speaking."

"It's alright, my friend," Elladan replied with a sigh. "No matter what, we had no right to tell those things to Estel. He didn't deserve it."

Their conversation stopped for a moment when the orc guard woke up one of his companions to take the watch and went to sleep. Suddenly, the new guard kneeled by the sleeping orc, and, without any warning, slit his throat. The creature didn't make a sound.

The three elves gaped at the sight.

"What is all this about?" Legolas asked, but Elrohir only shrugged.

"I don't really care. The less orcs, the better."

But the prince had the uneasy feeling that this wasn't going to turn out for the better.

The orc swiftly moved and killed all of his sleeping companions in the same manner. Then he walked to the three prisoners.

"Now I have you all to myself." He grinned and turned towards the golden-haired elf.

"I am sure you will like my company, Legolas. Or should I call you Prince Legolas?" He smirked as the captives paled at his words.

"Not very smart to use his real name." He turned towards Elladan. "I was fortunate the others didn't recognize it. So now you are all mine."

"Why are you doing this?" Elrohir glared at him.

"Why? Well, let's say that my master would be very happy if I brought him the Prince of Mirkwood. And I captured him all alone." He gave the dead orcs a satisfied glance.

"He might even make me a group leader."

The three elves shuddered. Such cruelty towards your own race was foreign to them. They knew that orcs didn't care about each other, but to see one kill all of his companions was too much.

"So you are taking us to your master?" Legolas asked.

"Us?" The orc grinned at him. "I'm taking only you, my dear prince. Those two will have to stay here. I was planning to kill them, but then I thought it would be more fun to leave them to starve to death. If the spiders don't kill them before that, of course."

"What are you going to do with him?" Elrohir asked, panicked.

"With the prince? I thought to kill him and bring him to my master, but now, when I think about it, it would be more convenient for me to make him walk instead of carrying his dead body." He cut the rope that tied Legolas to the tree, but left his wrists bound. "Go!" He pressed the tip of his scimitar at the prince's neck.

"No!" Elladan screamed. "Wait!"

Legolas turned his head to look back at the twins.

"Dan, Ro, if you ever manage to get away, please… please tell Estel that I'm sorry! Please ask him to remember me the way I was before, not the way I was the last time we met."

"I said go!" The orc shouted once again, giving his prisoner a fierce kick in the back, and sending him a few steps forward. "They are not getting away. There is no one to help them."

"Legolas!" The twins shouted as their friend disappeared into the forest. They both stared in despair at the pile of long, golden locks lying on the ground.

This was the only thing they now had left of their friend.

To be continued…

Many thanks to everyone who managed to review the last chapter although the site kept deleting it! And thanks to Kali for the wonderful beta work!

Some of you asked very nicely for elf torture. It's only implied here, but if you really want it, you can still have it in next chapter.

It seems this story will be entering the Spiders competition after all (I couldn't disobey ox's order :D) This means that I'll finish it by April 15. And I'll try to stay in the word limit (which I think I already passed ;)). You are also encouraged to participate, not many stories are entering, so you have a good chance to win :o)

To everyone reading "Friendship is a Family Trait": I'm so sorry the update is taking so long! But an update IS coming, I am working on it. Please don't think I have abandoned the story, I would never do that.

Finally, I know this chapter is evil. But please review, my friends, and you can have a lock of Legolas' hair :D (lol, I think that's called bribery ;))

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