"He felt now that he was not simply close to her, but that he did not know where he ended and she began." ―Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Chapter 16

Both Aragorn and Legolas sung songs of Boromir, as if they had come suddenly to them. After they were silent, Legolas told Aragorn of the missing boat. They looked about for other clues, now confused with their own doings on the bank. Finally, Aragorn found hobbit tracks entering the water, and Amber, looking about them while the others had searched the ground, saw that two packs were missing from the pile. Aragorn came over and checked which were there, noting that a large pack that Sam often carried, was gone.

The choice was before them, whether to follow Frodo and Sam in the last remaining boat, or to hunt down the orcs who had captured the other two hobbits. Aragorn looked to Amber, her injured leg certainly posing further difficulties. She certainly could not run in her current state and would need some time for healing. "Perhaps Gimli and I should follow the hobbits and Legolas remain with Amber, for she cannot walk yet" he suggested to the other three.

Amber was dismayed at this, "You cannot think to fight so many orcs with only two! Legolas should go with you. I will be fine"

"Nay!" Legolas exclaimed, "We will not leave you on this shore alone. I will carry you if I must, these are strange lands to you. I will not be parted from your side, even should you wish to send me from it" he was clearly resolved and the others looked at him in wonder. Both Aragorn and Gimli, the former having long suspected something more between the elf on the Beorning, had seen clear reason to think that something in their relationship had changed. Legolas was more protective than ever and he no longer attempted to hide it.

Aragorn thought for a moment, looking at the Eastern bank, "I think Frodo made a wise choice" he finally said, "he did not want to lead his friends into danger, but Sam must have insisted on following him, for it seems he waded into the river after the boat had left its mooring. They are together now and we must trust to them to complete their task, as it was set for Frodo alone".

The others worried for the two hobbits, now alone in the strange lands on the Eastern shore. They were, however, resolved not to allow Merry and Pippin to be left to a terrible fate as would certainly befall them in their capture. They guessed that the reason they had not been killed was because some rumour must have reached them of a Halfling carrying the weapon of the enemy, or at least something of great import.

Amber was right, were they to catch up with the orcs, who were by now hours ahead of them; they would need the fighting strength of more than two, however skilled they were. Aragorn looked again to Legolas, his jaw set with his resolve not to leave Amber behind.

"There is only one option left to us, if we will not be split" he said, striding over to his pack and beginning to empty it's contents. "We will have to travel very light, so that the needs of four are carried by two"

They watched as he began to repack, filling the bag with basic medical supplies and food, much of the remaining lembas as well as dried meat and apples for the Beorning who could not eat the bread. "I will carry our burdens, for long distances are not a hardship to me" he looked up then to Gimli, assessing him. "Will you manage without further baggage?" he asked, and the dwarf snorted, saying that he only needed the clothes on his back and axe in his hand. Aragorn nodded. "Then Legolas with carry Amber. Put your quiver and bow on her so that you may reach it in need"

Legolas nodded, picking up both and turning to Amber so that he could strap them onto her.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked, worried about the fatigue that such a labour might cause him, "I will truly be fine" she said again.

"I will not leave you, injury or no" he said, frowning as he secured the weapons to her, a strange sight to him as she had never carried such things, no use in them greater than her own beast's strengths. She nodded, eyes shining with emotion at his courage and resolve.

Once the others were ready, Legolas crouched in front of her, helping him onto his back so that her legs were either side of his waist, held by his hands which he placed carefully to avoid holding too near her wound. She wrapped her arms about his neck, clinging onto him as he stood. When secure, the unusually burdened four set off, heading after the orcs who held their friends captive.

For long hours they ran, well into the night, knowing that the orcs were yet far ahead of them, and seemingly running swiftly, if their tracks were a true representation.

When dawn was soon approaching, they finally halted, the man and Dwarf tossing down their burdens and laying atop the hill that they had climbed, making camp without bedrolls, for they had carried none.

Legolas lowered Amber, who hours earlier had fallen asleep against him, exhaustion from her wound getting the best of her, to the soft grass. He looked in worry at her face, wondering if she still had pain. The night air was cool, not yet full spring, so he decided to sit close beside her, wrapping her own cloak and his own about her for warmth. While he sat, keeping watch and singing softly to himself, she stirred in sleep, and looking for either comfort or heat, pressed closer to him. She turned her face, which was exposed to the air, into his thigh where he sat cross-legged on the grass. He stilled, watching her for further sign of movement, but she seemed to fall back into a deeper sleep, side rising and falling with her slow breathing. He looked to her hair, the vibrant colour not quite visible under the light of the stars, and slowly, so as not to wake her, he trailed his fingers through it, moving the curls into the tighter formations that they had held when clean in Lothlorien, as if this would take away some of the mess and weariness of the day's battle.

Only a few hours later, as the morning sun rose in the sky, Legolas woke the Beorning, wishing to tend to her wound before waking the others from their too short slumber. He stroked along the side of her face that was not against his thigh, brushing the sleep from her eyes as he did so. Her brow furrowed, and she buried her face into the material of his leggings, grumbling at the disturbance. He chuckled silently, the rocking making her wake further and blink, bleary-eyed, up at him. He smiled at her fondly, enjoying her morning grumpiness which he had become accustomed to. She smiled back, bemused, and seemingly not embarrassed at having woken to find herself clutching him.

He moved then, reaching for the pack that Aragorn had carried for them all and taking out of it what he needed. Seeing what he was doing, Amber flushed slightly, realising that he meant to tend to her. She glanced at the others, seemingly glad that they were still asleep. Sitting back, so that her injured leg was stretched before her, she lifted her hips to slide down the trousers, thanking the valar that she had fairly fresh undergarments on.

Once the material was bunched on her lower thighs, Legolas moved closer, having averted his gaze while she had readied herself. He removed the cloth bandaging carefully and inspected the wound. It looked relatively clean; the dried herbs having crusted slightly as her body began to heal. He was interested greatly by the rapid healing that was not unlike how his own wounds progressed, far faster than human or dwarf injuries. He poured over it some water from the water skin, glad for the stream that he could hear at the bottom of the hill in which they could refill their skins.

When sure it was clean and the crust had been washed away, he let the slowly warming air dry it enough that he could paste on a small amount of healing salve. Amber shivered as he wiped over the wound with his thumb and he looked up sharply, afraid that he had hurt her. Her expression was difficult to read, but she did not look pained. When he looked back down, he saw that her flesh was now bumped, from what he assumed must be the still fairly chill air, so he quickly rewrapped her upper thigh in a fresh strip of cloth, tying the ends and moving away so that she could pull back up her trousers.

He then woke the others and they quickly readied to leave, deciding to set their journey northwards as that was Aragorn's best guess as to which direction the orc company had gone. Before they had gotten to the bottom of the hill, Amber, hanging onto Legolas' back once more, exclaimed suddenly "Orcs! I smell orc blood ahead".

The others slowed, creeping ahead more cautiously. Hidden just further from the foot of the hill by a rocky outcropping were the bodies of several orcs, many wounds visible on their piled carcases. Two had their heads laying apart from them. Legolas was glad, asking Aragorn if any men lived in these lands who might have killed them but the man had another guess. He noted that of these bodies there were only the smaller orcs from the north, none of the larger orc creatures which they had seen among their assailants upon the bank of Anduin, when the hobbits had been captured. He guessed that they had quarrelled, and the northern orcs killed by the others. The others' faces twisted in disgust at the barbaric nature of the foul creatures, not even able to trust their own.

They travelled on, and by a stream up ahead Aragorn found the tracks he was searching for. They ran in the direction that the tracks led them as the sun rose higher in the sky.

At one point Legolas was sure he could see an eagle flying far above them, although when he pointed it out to the others, they were unable to see it with their inferior eyes. Amber could make out a moving shape but could not tell it's form. They wondered at why it flew so far south, as the great eagles dwelt in the Northern mountains near Amber's kin.

As they ran on, they found often discarded items which the orcs had shed as they moved, which they had seemed to cast aside without care.

Suddenly, without warning, Aragorn shouted for them to halt, leaving them while he ran off their current path. He followed small footprints which he had spotted. At the farthest track he found a brooch from one of the elven cloaks which they all carried. Their hearts lightened as they realised that a hobbit must have run from the orcs to leave them a token that he, at least, was alive. The tracks were followed by orc feet and returned to the main path as the orc company continued on their way, having recaptured the hobbit.

With fresh vigour, they ran on, Legolas' heart lightened by the good omen and helping ease his weariness for running for so long carrying the Beorning woman.

When darkness closed once more about them, they debated whether to go on, risking losing trail if it bent, or to rest, losing more ground between themselves and the captured hobbits. Aragorn believed that the path led towards Isengard, but they worried at missing some sign in the dark. Finally, they decided to rest, and while the others slept, Legolas watched the horizon, despairing at the distance gaining between themselves and the orcs.