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Chapter 5 - Hide and then seek

"So, my Prince, what shall we do this evening then?"

Tauriel asked, looking down at Legolas as they continued to walk past, hand in hand, many Elves that still sat around the table eating their evening meal. Legolas had rushed his dinner as soon as his father had told him that he could spend the rest of the night with Tauriel. Once he was done, he had jumped down from his chair, never missing the soft giggle his mother made as he ran towards the Captain as she entered the great hall.

Legolas hummed as his free hand went to his chin, wiping away the last few crumbs that were left there. "That game we played last time. I forgot the name but it was very fun." He smiled up at he Elleth, jumping in excitement as they walked.

"Oh, you may have to refresh my mind, little one." Tauriel smiled down at her Prince. " There are so many games we play that my old mind always forgets. It is a thing a loathe, always forgetting about the most important things."

"Are you making fun of me?" Legolas glared playfully.

"My Prince!" Tauriel exclaimed. She always questioned whether these games were truly important or not but as they are her Prince's games, they must be. "I would never!"

"I know you wouldn't." Legolas giggled as he looked up at the doors that led out into the garden "Anyway, you are not that old Tauriel, you are younger than Naneth because se told me the other day."

"Dear me, you make me blush, Cunn-nin." Tauriel chuckled as she nodded to some guards that walked past her as they went on their patrols. She pushed open the doors and gazed out into the garden, moonlight streaming down as a gentle wind swayed the trees. "Now let's see what this game could be yes? Is it stuck in the marshes?"

"Nay, not that one." Legolas let go of the Captain's hand and began to hop down the steps.

She hummed. "Is it sleeping wargs?"

"Baw!" *No!*

"My, what could it be?" She walked after the Prince as he began to run through the flower beds, she'll make sure to send her apologies to the Queen later. "What's the time ul Orch? *ugly Orc?* or could it possibly be Ring around the Athelas?"

"No and no Tauriel!" The Captain of the guard watched her Prince sigh in mock-frustration and fall in the flower beds. She snorted and made her way over, kneeling beside Legolas and stroking his cheek as he pouted. "Your mind is really bad."

"It is memory, sweet Prince. But come now, there is one more game that I think I can remember." Legolas sat up, smiling brightly hoping it was the one. "Could you mean Hide and then seek?" Tauriel laughed when Legolas screamed with joy and jumped up.

He loved this game.

"That's the one, that's the one!" Legolas laughed. "Tell me again where you learnt of such a game, please? Just before we play? Seas?" *Please*

Tauriel cleared her throat as she began to explain, mostly starting with how the game works, getting Legolas more and more excited to begin playing. Every time they played Hide and then seek, her Prince would always want to know where it came from. She made sure not to say where the game was originally from, knowing that she was told strictly not to tell Legolas about the other races from her Queen. "As you know, I went to visit another Elven realm, Imladris, just a few years ago. I saw the Lord's children playing it and thought you might have liked to play it as the Lord's children loved it."

Legolas sat up, eyes shining brightly at the tale he's knows so much about. "How far is Im-Imla-Imladris?" He tested, Tauriel nodding when he got it right.

"You have been practising?" Legolas blushed. "Imladris is far. Six days on horse back over the Misty Mountains."

"Could I go there someday?" The Princeling asked.

"You would have to ask your Ada aboutthat, Cunn-nin, and your dear Naneth as well. I am sure that when you are old enough you will be able too and perhaps I will travel with you." She smiled softly, watching her Prince's eyes turn sad as she was sure King Thranduil had told him so many times before. "Right." She then stood, holding out her hand for the Elfling to grab onto.

When Legolas was on his feet, she turned and began to count to twenty out loud. The Prince just stood there with his brow furrowed. When she still felt his presence behind her, she turned around and tapped her foot on the ground. "Well, you better start finding somewhere to hide, Cunn-nin, this game would be very boring if you didn't and I found you straight away."

Legolas' face then lit up, his little legs now running to find a place to hide and a loud squeal leaving him. Tauriel laughed as she watched him go "Min!" *One!* She shouted, beginning her counting.

"Tâd!" *Two!*

"Neledh!"*Three!*

"Where should I hide?" Legolas began to panic as he tried to find the perfect spot, not wanted the Captain finding him so quickly. He smiled as he saw many choices laid out before him but declined each one. Hide behind the fountain? Too easy! Hide in the flower bed? Too easy! Hide underneath a bench? Too easy!

They just wasn't good enough!

The Elfling continued to run through the garden, trying his absolute best to find the perfect hiding spot. He ran past the gates and noticed that there were no guards and debated whether or not he should hide behind them, outside of the palace grounds but decided not. He didn't want to upset his father and mother. So, he continued to run, hearing Tauriel still counting...

"Minib!" *Eleven*

He soon stopped in front of a old Oak tree that he usually sees his father looking up at and smiles when he suddenly hears a soft laughter that travelled with the calm wind.

The young Elfling then jumped onto a tree branch that came rushing towards him, swooping him into the air, higher up into the tree itself. Legolas huffed and puffed, laughing all the while as he tried to catch his breath, leaning up against the tree's trunk.

"My, my, little one..." A musical voice sounded throughout the Prince's mind, causing Legolas to close his eyes "...You sure are being naughty today."

"I am not being that naughty." Legolas replied "I am playing hide and then seek with Tauriel. You have me out of breath, mellon!" *friend!*

"Then I shall keep you hidden until the Captain of the guard seeks you." The tree chuckled, closing it's branches in on the young Prince of Mirkwood to try and cover the child in its leaves. "And I am sorry, young one. I need to learn how to control myself."

"Do not worry about it but anyway, Hannon le, mellon-nin!" *Thank you, my friend!* Legolas shouted, opening his eyes and then standing, grabbing hold onto a branch above him and lifting himself onto it. He did this several times until he reached the very top, poking his head through the leaves till he could see the moon and stars so clearly and brightly.

"Wow!" He exclaimed as he gazed at the spectacular view before him. "This is just beautiful!" He heard the gentle laughter from the tree and the Prince of Mirkwood just couldn't help but join in. He gazed apon the many different coloured trees the moons light gave, many ranging from soft blue's to hard. He would need to come back up in the morning as he would love to see the colours the sun would give off. His gaze took him to loom apon the Misty Mountains, Hithaeglir, in the distance and the Lonely Mountain, Erebor, to his left. He saw a lake not so far away and thought about asking his parents to take him one day.

He stood there for awhile, taking in everything he could before Tauriel would find him. He must have a really good hiding spot because Legolas was pretty sure it had been more than twenty seconds already.

After a while, the Prince decided to climb back down the tree, knowing that if his father saw him from the Palace balcony he would be in so much trouble for he was not meant to know how to climb trees yet. It was his, Naneth's and Tauriel's little secret. He didn't know why though, he was fifty four.

But the Prince also didn't know that being fifty four years in Elven standards was only that of a two year old in mortal years.

Legolas finally made it back to where he had previously been sitting before, leaning up against the tree trunk and closing his eyes to talk to the tree once more. "You have the greatest sight, dear mellon!"

The tree thanked it's Prince for the praise and begun to sing to the Elfling. The song was calm and gentle, soothing every other living things soul, including that of its kin. Soon, the other trees surrounding the Prince began to join in and soon it felt like the whole forest was singing the gentle song.

Legolas giggled as the tree tickled him suddenly. Another tickle came and then, soon, every tree near the small Elfling was joining in. Tears of joy came rolling down the Prince's cheeks and he screamed in delight as the trees continued in their playful assault. "Stop, stop! Please, my laughter is hurting me! Please! Tauriel will find me!" Legolas felt the leaves stop the fun and the Prince brought a hand up to wipe away the tears, small giggles still making their way out from his mouth.

The Prince suddenly tensed when he began to hear footsteps coming from afar nearing his direction. His laughter stopped but his smile remained as he thought about Tauriel coming to see if he was in the area. However, several more steps were heard right after the first, along with a familiar voice that seemed to be shouting. The young Prince separated the trees branches the slightest and saw many Elves running underneath the tree he was hiding in.

They were wearing the colours of Mirkwood and were carrying on their being: knives, swords, bows and arrows. Legolas saw Tauriel then, running beneath him and the young Prince quickly made his way down the tree, wanting to know what was happening. "Tauriel!" He shouted as he hit the floor, watching as the Captain was about to run past the gates and into the dark forest that surrounded his fathers palace.

Legolas watched as Tauriel turned and looked straight at him. He ran towards her and moved his head to the side to see the directions the guards went in. "Where are you going? You never found me" He pouted as he asked, knowing that their game of hide and seek had now come to an end.

"I am sorry, Cunn-nin." *my Prince.* Tauriel knelt down to the child's height, placing her free hand, for the other was carrying a bow, on her Prince's shoulder. "I will have to play with you tomorrow if I am back for I am needed by the borders this very moment. Goheno-nin, sweet one." And with those rushed words, the Elleth was off, running towards the guards that waited for her but a few meters away.

Legolas watched her go, giving a small wave to the Captain's back as she disappeared into the night. He didn't mean to start crying when he no longer saw her on the road but he also didn't mean to take a step forward, then another and then another till he was just one step from being outside the gates. She was gone and there game was ruined! Legolas let out a sob as he tried to swallow the lump in his throat but he couldn't.

"Come."

Legolas gasped as the same sharp pain as before was back inside his head, the faint whispering of a cold voice just beyond that of the pain.

"Follow."

Just as he was about to take another step forward, his name was being shouted from behind and soon strong arms lifted him up off from the ground. Legolas immediately wrapped his arms around his father's neck and cried into it, never seeing his father's wide-eyed, worried expression.

"What did you think you were doing, Las?!" Thranduil never wished it to come out as harsh as it sounded.

Legolas just continued to cry, not replying to his Ada, so Thranduil sighed and turned around heading back inside the palace. "Do you want to sleep with myself an your Nana, Laegolas?" A small nod was all he got thus he took his child back to his room. On the way there, he saw his wife standing in the middle of the hall, three maids beside her, all looking equally worried. Thranduil nodded to Estelwen, silently telling her that he had everything handled and that everything was fine.

As the King reached Legolas' bedroom, he chanted the small spell before stepping in. As he reached his little one's bed, he furrowed his brow when he finally noticed how still and silent Legolas now was, his cries no longer sounding and his small form all tense. "Greenleaf?" Thranduil said as he gently placed his child on the bed before him.

"Can you hear that, Ada?" The King saw that Legolas' eyes were slightly glazed but only took that as a sign of him being half asleep. Valar, he must have almost cried himself to sleep, Thranduil thought.

"Hear what, sweet one?" He asked, his brow deepened as he heard no noise except that of his own and Legolas' breathing.

Legolas blinked and looked up at his King and father. "Oh..." He answered "...It was probably nothing." He turned and looked away from his father, to afraid to look into his eyes.

"Tell me." Thranduil placed a hand on his son's shoulder, kneeling down to his height. This made Legolas turn his gaze back onto that of his.

"It sounded like a voice, in the distance." Legolas explained, his small Princely brow furrowing "I couldn't make out any words though...They were muffled? It may have been the trees, I am not sure. I was probably imagining it."

The King only nodded his reply and eased his son into his bed, pulling the covers up to cover the small form and then kissed Legolas goodnight on the lips. "Are you sure you do not wish to stay with me and Naneth tonight?" He asked, nodding when Legolas said a silent 'yes' "Alright then. Sleep well, Greenleaf. Do not let the trees keep you up." He said, watching as his child's eyes glazed over fully in sign of Elven sleep but not before a small smile showed.

Thranduil exited the room silently, placing the spell back on the door before walking back to his own chambers. A great worry took over the King for his child in that long walk back. "It couldn't have been...?" He thought to himself but then shook the dark thought away...

"As he said...It was probably just his imagination."

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Sorry for the wait! Wasn't that long this time though was it? ;) This wasn't the best chapter I have ever written. I feel as if it could have been better but hey ho, I'm not the judge so I hope you have all enjoyed it :)

- GOT "THE DESOLATION THE SMAUG" ON DVD THE DAY IT CAME OUT...I'M SUCH A COOL KID!

Reviews;

Nardhwentheelf; I AM SORRY FOR MAKING YOU WAIT! :') I want Leggy to be well but I can't D: Ahahaa, you have already guessed, damn you! ;) thank you, mellon!

mjg43; Aw thank you :)

BrightWatcher; Woo! I am glad ;D

Nightrunner144; Why thank you, Anna, that's so sweet of you :D

brankel1; THANK YOU :3

Namarië