Legolas may be a little OOC, but just go with it. We also get to see some action with Orcs!
Legolas and Aragorn's journey was slow. Two days and they weren't even at the ruins of Dale. "We should have found him by now." Legolas sighed.
Aragorn sat next to the Elf in front of their fire. "We do not know if he had any transport. He could have commandeered a horse."
Legolas' shoulders hunched in defeat. "If only I had known. Why did he not tell me he had powers like that?"
"Fear?" Aragorn suggested.
"Fear of what?" Legolas asked, "He should have known that I would not turn him away. He is my Father."
"Fear will cloud even the wisest of men." Aragorn put an arm around Legolas and pulled him closer, "Perhaps something happened earlier in his life that created that fear. We will find your father Legolas. And when we do, you can show him just how much he doesn't have to fear himself."
Legolas relaxed in Aragorn's arms, leaning his head on the other's shoulder, a stray tear fell down his cheek.
(Spring)(Summer)(Fall)(Winter)
Bolg and his party were making progress up the east side of the lake. They had found another campsite that belonged to a group of four. "Someone must be looking for the Prince." A scout said.
"Then we take them too." Bolg smiled. They rushed off, following their new trail.
(Spring)(Summer)(Fall)(Winter)
Fili and Kili decided to stop for a short break. They were about a day from reaching the Prince and whoever was with him. Tauriel still worried over that fact, but she trusted that her lord and friend were safe.
Kili had identified the reason his stomach twisted whenever he saw Tauriel look out into the distance. He was jealous, jealous of the Prince who she was worried about. He managed to hide his feelings from the rest of the group except his brother, who shot him disapproving looks whenever he could.
"We should move on. The faster we find the Prince, the faster we can end this silly quest." Dwalin huffed.
Tauriel glared at the Dwarf, but didn't say anything. She stood gracefully and turned towards the lake. "You do not have to be here Master Dwarf."
"As much as I would like to leave Elfling, I'm not leaving my Kin with the likes of you."
Tauriel opened her mouth to retort, but instead she looked back and gasped. "A group of Orcs are heading this way."
"Orcs?" Fili asked.
"We should leave. If we cut through the forest we can outrun them." Tauriel made to leave, but Dwalin didn't move.
"We can take a few Orcs" He took up his ax and readied himself for battle.
"You will get yourself killed Dwarf. We do not have time to fight Orcs." Tauriel argued.
"We can take them though." Kili said. "We can win"
Tauriel looked at him, the fight slowly leaving her as she gazed into Kili's determined eyes. "Have it your way." She sighed and took out her bow.
Kili smiled and readied his bow as well, Fili doing the same with his sword.
Not a moment later a large pack of Orcs came into sight. They stopped in front of the group and the leader smiled. "So it is an Elf." Bolg said.
"What of the Dwarves?" A scout asked.
"Leave them. We are only here for the Elf." Bolg said. They all dismounted their Wargs and quickly attacked the group. The Orcs outnumbered the other party so it was easy enough to distract the three Dwarves while their more skilled fighters dealt with the Elf.
The Orcs dodged her arrows so she switched to her dagger as they approached her. She managed to kill a few before one managed to distract her enough for another to knock her out. The Orcs bound her hands and feet before throwing her into an iron cage. The rest of the Orcs retreated from the Dwarves and followed Bolg into the forest.
"See, I knew we could take them." Dwalin said smugly. "Didn't even break a sweat."
"That seemed too easy" Fili said. "They were only dodging our attacks, barely attacking themselves."
Kili turned around to ask Tauriel's opinion, but she wasn't there. It only took him a moment to figure out what happened. "It was a distraction."
"A what?" Fili asked.
"A distraction. Tauriel is gone!" Kili ran to where she was last seen and looked around. "They took her!"
"You sure she's not just dead?" Dwalin asked.
Fili and Kili glared at the Dwarf. "There would be a body Dwalin." Fili said.
"We have to go after her." Kili said.
"Are you crazy?" Dwalin exclaimed. "Go chasing after some Elf? No, what we should do is return to Mirkwood."
"Go back if you wish Dwalin, but I am going after her." Kili ran off into the forest.
"Come on" Fili sighed, running after his brother.
"Of all the people he had to fall for it had to be an Elf. He has no taste." Dwalin grumbled and followed Fili into the forest.
It didn't take long to find the Orcs. They had stopped to feed their Wargs, or at least, that is what it looked like to Kili. He silently made his way to the cage that held Tauriel. She was shocked to see him, "What are you doing here?" She hissed, looking over at the Orcs to make sure no one was paying attention.
"Rescuing you of course." Kili winked and started working on picking the lock.
"You need to leave Kili, you shouldn't be here." Tauriel urged.
"I will not leave you to be killed by these creatures. We are going to find the Prince and then return to Mirkwood safe and sound." He said.
Tauriel smiled warmly at the Dwarf.
"Hey!" An Orc had spotted Kili. The others grabbed their weapons and surrounded the cage.
"You shouldn't have come little Dwarf." An Orc hissed.
Kili unsheathed his sword, "You stole my friend; I came to get her back."
"Friend" The Orc hissed a laugh, "Dwarves and Elves friends? Absurd"
"Leave little Dwarf, or die." Bolg growled.
"I'm not leaving." Kili replied.
"Then I guess we will just have to kill you. All alone, you are easy prey." Bolg smiled.
"He's not alone though." Fili and Dwalin came up behind the Orcs.
Bolg growled, "You don't need to be here. We only came for the Elf, we aren't capturing any Dwarves."
"Why capture the Elf and leave us?" Dwalin asked.
"Orders from a Dwarf. We're to capture the Royal family and bring them to him. This Elf is merely extra." Bolg smiled, he licked his lips in anticipation.
Fili curled his lip in disgust, "What Dwarf would order the capture of the Royal family?"
"King Dain of course. You should already know that. He promised us Mirkwood if we brought him the King and the Prince. It was too good a deal to pass up."
The Dwarves were shocked, "Impossible, Dain would never commit such betrayal."
"Think what you like Dwarves." He motioned to his group and they all attacked. The three were taken by surprise, easily captured by the Orcs and tied up before they were all thrown in the cage along with Tauriel.
"Some rescue huh?" Kili laughed nervously when he saw Tauriel's glare.
"Idiots, every one of you. You should not have come. Now who will warn the others of Dain's treachery?"
"We don't know if they are really in league with Dain. They could be just framing him." Dwalin said.
"I have no trouble believing this was his idea." Tauriel sniffed. "He's a vile creature."
"Dain is our Kin, you have no right to dishonor him." Dwalin hissed.
"He has hired Orcs to capture my King and my Prince. I have every right to insult his so-called honor."
"I think we should focus more on getting out of here instead of petty fighting. We will get no answers until we return to Mirkwood." Fili cut in.
Dwalin huffed and shifted to the opposite end of the cage. Fili rolled his eyes at the Dwarf's childlike behavior but joined him at the other side.
Kili shifted so that he sat next to Tauriel giving her an apologetic look, "I'm sorry my rescue wasn't quite as planned."
The corners of Tauriel's mouth twitched, "You did say you were reckless."
Kili chuckled, "Well, at least we're together."
Tauriel smiled, "Indeed"
(Spring)(Summer)(Fall)(Winter)
Legolas and Aragorn were walking when Legolas stopped and looked behind him, eyes focused miles away.
"What do you see?" Aragorn asked.
"Orcs" He hissed.
"What are Orcs doing this far north?"
"I do not know, but we need to hide." He grabbed Aragorn's hand and led him behind the trees.
"We should not stay here, we should move on." Aragorn said.
"They are too close. They will see us before we can get far enough ahead."
True to his word, the pack of Orcs came into view. They stopped at the edge of the tree line, looking around.
"When we capture the Prince are we going back?" An Orc asked.
"We will be meeting Azog at Lake-town, I'm sure he will have the King by then." Bolg answerd.
Legolas stiffened, his grip tightened on his bow. Aragorn put a calming hand on his arm, but had his own sword out and ready.
"Why don't you come out Princeling, we know you are hiding." Bolg called.
Legolas shifted, but Aragorn held him down. "Don't do it."
Bolg cackled, "Come out and fight us Princeling, maybe after we capture you, you will be able to see your father before we cut his pretty little head off."
Legolas hissed and stood up, firing an arrow at the nearest Orc. The Orc cried out as the arrow hit its arm. The other looked over and quickly dismounted. Legolas jumped out behind the tree and unsheathed his knives. Aragorn came out of hiding as well and fought another Orc.
Like with Tauriel, a few Orcs came up behind the pair and threw a chain around each of Legolas' wrists.
"Legolas!" Aragorn shouted as the Elf went down. Using this distraction the Orcs caught Aragorn and held him down as the others bound Legolas. It took a few tries, but they managed to bind him.
"Now wasn't that painless?" Bolg cackled. Legolas glared at the Orc. He spat something in Sindarin, Bolg hissed and slapped him. "Put him in the cage." Bolg hissed.
"What about the human?" An Orc asked.
Legolas turned towards Aragorn, he was struggling against the Orcs holding his arms.
"Throw him in the lake. We have what we came here for. We must go meet Azog and then the rest of our troops. We march on Mirkwood and then we gain a kingdom." Bolg smiled.
Legolas tried to escape and help Aragorn but he could only watch helplessly as two Orcs knocked the man unconscious and carelessly threw him into the lake. The last thing he could see was Aragorn's body being swept away in the current.
When Legolas was brought to the cage, he was shocked to find Tauriel already inside. Tauriel gasped and immediately got to her knees.
The Orcs brought their spears through the bars, pointing them at the four so that they wouldn't move while Legolas was thrown inside.
"My Lord are you alright?" Tauriel asked once they were free to move.
"I am fine Tauriel. Why are you in here?" Legolas asked.
"We were sent to find you. Your horse came back without you and we assumed the worst." She looked down in shame, "The Orcs caught me by surprise and captured me. Forgive me my Lord, we led them straight to you."
"There is nothing to forgive Tauriel." Legolas said. He turned to the Dwarves, "I thought Dwarves were experienced fighters?"
Dwalin bristled, "We are! It was that Elf's fault we are even in this mess."
"Hey, we were all captured because they overpowered us. She had nothing to do with it." Kili defended. Tauriel blushed lightly, escaping the notice of the Dwarves but Legolas looked at her suspiciously.
"If she didn't get herself captured in the first place, we wouldn't be here." Dwalin retorted.
"And if Dain hadn't hired Orcs to capture us then we wouldn't be here either." Tauriel shot back.
"Dain? King Dain?" Legolas asked.
"Yes, the Orcs told us that Dain hired them to kill you and your father. They were promised Mirkwood as payment." Fili answered.
Legolas breathed out through his nose, trying to calm his anger.
"They are going after the King my Lord." Tauriel said softly.
"I know Tauriel. I know." Legolas sighed.
Wooo! Thranduil is next ^-^
Review please!