so this took me a while because i was having problems with the timeline of events but after a lot of thought and many sticky notes I figured it out. Its a bit longer than usual but i hope u enjoy it just the same. and a always, please please pleas RnR!
Legolas intently searched every inch of the riverside for hours. He investigated every disturbance in the river rocks that lay on the rivers edge. He moved further and further west, taking himself farther away from Helm's Deep by the hour. However, the elf was not thinking of Théoden and the task that he bid him do. His only concern was finding Aragorn and paying the debt that he owed him; Aragorn had saved his life, now Legolas must save his.
Finally, 5 hours of searching had passed and everything Legolas found lead to a dead end. He was now at least a full day's ride from Helm's Deep and he still had to find the Uruk army. He kept hearing Aragorn in his head telling him that he must fulfill his mission, he must protect the people of Rohan. But Legolas would not listen. His desire to find his friend seemed to block everything else out.
After pursuing a trail that lead to a small band of wild horses the elf let out a long breath. Slowly he turned to face the river and gazed upon the rough, churning waters. His heart started to pound in his chest. Was Aragorn really dead, taken by the river to a place where Legolas could not find him? This thought brought him to his knees. He never had the chance to say goodbye or to say he was thankful to have him as a friend. A feeling overtook his mind that he had not experienced in hundreds of years; true and unadulterated sadness. He had been on this earth nearly 3000 years and he had only felt this helpless and this lost once before. He did not welcome the hot tears that formed in his eyes. He bowed his head in defeat and began to listen to Aragorn's voice.
If he could not save Aragorn, he would do his best to save his people. Legolas took a deep breath and rose to his feet. He looked over his shoulder to the setting sun, closing his eyes, he said a lament for his friend. He walked back down to the riverside and just as he was about to mount Arod he noticed a deep well in some river rocks close by. As he walked closer, he could make out the outline of a man. Further still, he could depict hoof prints nearby. He did not notice any footprints however. Legolas' heart began to pound again, only this time it was for excitement. Had Aragorn survived the treacherous river? Had, by some miracle, he found a horse and started making his way back to Helm's Deep? Or was this evidence of some one else? So many questions were going through Legolas' mind but one thought stuck out among them all; Aragorn may still be alive.
However, no matter how joyous this notion was, Legolas still had to find the army sent to destroy the people of Rohan. A thought ripped through him; the army could already be at Helm's Deep. Théoden and his people could already be under attack. Legolas couldn't believe he had delayed his task so long. He knew, whether he be alive or dead, Aragorn would tell Legolas to complete his mission. Quickly, the elf made his way north with Arod, and with the new glimmer of hope now within him.
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Legolas rode at a swift pace through the night. The hilly terrain made it difficult for him to see very far off. But at about sunrise he spotted a very large hill, tall enough that the would be able to see far and wide across the plains of Rohan. He reached it in about an hour and left Arod at the bottom to rest while he made his way to the top.
He saw them immediately. His elven eyesight reached miles and miles across the land to the black legion that was now approaching Helm's Deep. Although he couldn't see each individual orcs, he could see that there was at least 10,000 in the caravan. Legolas' eyes widened in disbelief. Even with all of the men of Rohan at arms they would be no match for Sarumon's monsters. If only Aragorn were here to see this, he thought to himself.
Finally, he brought himself out of his own thoughts and sprinted down the hill. Arod had had only a few moments to rest but Legolas needed him now more than ever. In his native tongue, Legolas spoke words of encouragement to the horse before they sped off towards Helm's Deep, faster than either of them had ever gone before.
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Aragorn approached Helm's Deep at a very slow pace. Every muscle in his body ached and he could barely keep his head up. Any extra movement that he made was met with more pain. Brego seemed to understand this and never went faster than a quick walk.
Aragorn was surprised by the way he barely had to steer Brego, he seemed to know exactly where they were going and how to get there. Back in Edoras, where this horse was treated like a common creature, Aragorn noticed that there was definitely something special about him. He recognized that he had seen war, perhaps too much of it, so why would Brego willingly turn in a free life for the almost inevitable chance of going back into battle by helping him? This gave Aragorn a little flicker of hope; if a horse was willing to stand by him, perhaps the men of Middle Earth would too.
Aragorn's dream still haunted him. The images of the fellowship, his friends, possessed by the pure evil of Sauron shook him to his very core. How could he even ponder leading a Kingdom when these thoughts stood at the forefront of his mind. He now longed more that ever to see Legolas and Gimli, in their true forms.
Aragorn was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't even realized when the sun dipped below the horizon. Brego kept riding through the night, stopping only to get a drink from a small stream along the path. Baskets, blankets, and other various objects were dispersed along the plains, no doubt left behind by the people in Theoden's caravan who realized they had brought too much. As Aragorn contemplated this his eyes grew very heavy and eventually he let them close, knowing that he could trust Brego to get them both to Helm's Deep safely.
That night, Aragorn dreamt of his beloved Arwen. Seeing her helped him sleep soundly through the night, but reminded him of how he had lost the gift she had given him. The Evenstar pendant was no longer in its usual place around his neck, and Aragorn felt its loss greatly. He felt as if losing it had distanced him from Arwen, and his heart grew heavy with this thought.
When he woke to the rising sun he realized that sleeping on a moving horse did not bode well for his already aching body. When he looked up to see the sunrise, pain shot down his back, however, he managed to ride for quite a while longer.
It was about midday when Brego stopped for a drink and Aragorn decided to dismount and walk around to regain some of his strength. He soon found that this was not as easy of a task as he had thought, but soon the stiffness in his muscles began to subside. Eventually he knelt by the stream and drew some water with his hands to wet his face. He let out a breath and sat for a while in the sunlight. It was then that he noticed a large gash on the upper part of his left arm. It didn't hurt, but he would definitely get an earful about it from Legolas. The elf had always been protective of him, just as he was with all of his friends, but with an impending orc battle he wouldn't have much time to tend to it. Aragorn's heart dropped. He had completely forgotten about the Saurmon's army. Théoden could have been in the midst of battle at that very moment. Or the battle could be over and all of Rohan, including Legolas and Gimli, slain.
Aragorn quickly stood up and was about to mount Brego when he noticed something coming towards him. He could just barely make out the outline to be that of an horse and rider.
Of course Legolas had seen Aragorn from a good distance away. He had changed his direction slightly so that he could meet up with him. The smile that spread across his face and had not subsided since. He couldn't remember ever feeling so relieved in his extraordinarily long life, even with the orc army behind him. He knew that with Aragorn leading them, the men of Rohan had hope. When he had gotten a great deal closer, he took his bow from his back and fired an arrow in Aragorn's direction.
Aragorn had not moved since he first saw noticed the figure. However, when an arrow landed at his feet he took a few quick steps back. He pulled the arrow out of the ground and when he ran his fingers over the familiar golden feathers on the end he couldn't help but smile. He looked up and could now make out the white coat of the horse and Legolas' green tunic.
Finally, the elf jumped the stream that stood between himself and Aragorn and swiftly dismounted Arod. When he turned around, Aragorn was waiting for him, "You're late."
Legolas quickly looked over Aragorn and noticed his overall disheveled appearance, "You looked terrible." he said with a grin. The two friends laughed as they stepped forward to embrace each other. When they stepped back, Aragorn noticed Legolas holding something out in his hand. He looked at the elf's outstretched palm and there lay the Evenstar pendant. He immediately felt the burden on his heart lift and when he grasped the metal in his hands he could feel that Arwen was again with him. "Hannon le." he said sincerely.
Legolas was happy to return Arwen's pendant but the seriousness of the approaching army seemed to catch up with him. "We cannot linger, " he said returning to Arod. Aragorn looked up at him, he was taken aback by his sudden need for urgency. The elf mounted his horse and continued "An army of 10,000 orcs marches on Helm's Deep, they will be there by nightfall."
Suddenly, Aragorn lost all sense of relief and his mind now raced with thoughts of war. He couldn't imagine what an army of 10,000 orcs looked like, let alone how he would be able to defeat them with the meager numbers of Theoden's forces. Sarumon obviously was not willing to let any man, woman or child see the dawn of the next day in Helm's Deep.
Within seconds, the two riders were heading west with all haste both knowing that the fate of Theoden's people depended on them, both knowing that this could be the night when everything ends.