I'm back! I did promise that I would try to update soon, so here it is!
-Nescit Cedere-
Here is where we left off! (Sort of)
Aragorn returned his attention to Erestor, curiosity settling in. "What is it you wished to speak to me about?" Erestor halted at the garden entrance, eyes locking onto Aragorn's, expression serious and with a hint of grief.
"I wish to speak to you of Dyn."
-Nescit Cedere-
Aragorn froze as the words echoed in his mind. Dyn's name repeated itself before fading away as Aragorn stared at Erestor, eyes filled with sorrow and pain. He closed his eyes, the image of Dyn's body prominent in his mind. He could still see her very clearly, approaching him on the battlefield, a smile gracing her lips, eyes twinkling as she stood before him. "Aragorn..." Her voice whispered...
Erestor knew Aragorn was recalling memories of Dyn and allowed him a moment before Aragorn blinked and lowered his head, tears glistening in his eyes.
"The nightmares continue to plague me...Each and every night...I can hear her voice, calling to me." Aragorn murmured, voice wavering slightly. "In the end, she begs for me not to blame myself, tries to convince me that it was not my doing. At times, I can even sense her near."
"She never did leave you, Aragorn, just as your fathers' before you who continue to watch and guide you along the way." Erestor spoke, his voice as smooth as the water running down a stream. Aragorn gave a small, but weak, smile, gazing into the distance, towards Mordor. Erestor closed his eyes, knowing what Aragorn was thinking. It was obvious from the far away look in his eyes. He was remembering. Erestor recalled the day Elrond received a vision of Aragorn fighting before the Black Gate of Mordor. It had shaken the Elf Lord badly that he immediately left for Gondor with Erestor in tow. Glorfindel had already left to search for the twins, who had yet to return home to Rivendell after leaving to accompany the Lothlorien and Rivendell Elves who were marching to Helm's Deep...but he himself never returned, which concerned the two Elves greatly.
"Dyn knew she was not to return." Erestor carefully spoke. Aragorn snapped his head towards him. "I did not think of it before...When Glorfindel and I had travelled to Lothlorien, Dyn came to me. She had returned with the Lady Galadriel, after having looked into the Mirror. Whatever she had seen, it frightened her greatly and brought her great pain. At first, I believed she had seen something concerning you...but now...I know the truth."
"What did she say?" Aragorn inquired. Erestor locked gazes with the young King.
"She did not say anything of importance, but gave me these to give to you. I should have known at once..." Aragorn could tell Erestor was berating himself for not having noticed anything before. He had sharp eyes that hardly missed anything. Even the smallest little detail, could give Erestor all that he needed to know. Aragorn did not blame the Elf, knowing it was not Erestor's fault. Erestor suffered as much as he. The dark elf reached into his robe and pulled out a parchment of paper attached to a small bag. He carefully handed them to Aragorn, who accepted it. The Dunedain hesitantly tugged the elastic string, opening the bag and peered in. Tears sprung to his eyes once more as he raised the little piece of parchment attached to the gift and scanned it. This time, Aragorn could not withhold the sob that choked out from his lips, shoulders shaking as he clutched the little bag against his heart. Erestor's impassive facade fell as he watched Aragorn attempt to collect himself but couldn't, his heart sinking as he watched the inner struggled within the mortal. Erestor stepped forward and gently clasped Aragorn's shoulder with his hand before pulling the Ranger into his arms.
Aragorn allowed his head to rest against Erestor's shoulder the same way he had when he was a child and allowed the tears to fall, the pain and grief of seventeen years finally allowed to be released.
-Nescit Cedere-
Elladan and Elrohir were still sulking after the prank Aragorn had pulled on them, much to the amusement of Legolas and Glorfindel. Faramir could not help but give a smile himself. He had to admit that his King was clever. There was also never a dull moment around the citadel. After some time, the twins had cleaned themselves and had left to search for their younger brother but could find no sign of him anywhere. They walked outside onto the balcony to find Legolas gazing into the distance, a worried expression gracing his features, posture tense.
"Legolas?" The Wood-Elf started, having not noticed the twins and turned slightly to face them. "What ails you, mellon-nin?" the two chimed, perching themselves on the railing overlooking the gardens.
"My Father has yet to arrive." Legolas explained the the twins realized it was nearly late afternoon. Thranduil was never late. The two glanced at one another, sensing that something was amiss.
"Would you like for us to search for him?" Elladan asked and Legolas shook his head.
"Nay, I could not-"
"Perhaps he is only running late." Elrohir said and Legolas tilted his head.
"I do not think so. I have a feeling my Father may have traveled on his own..." Legolas flinched as he remembered what had happened the last time his Father had ridden on his own without escorts. It was after Legolas had left him to reunite with Aragorn, or Strider at the time. Thranduil had left the palace and ridden from Mirkwood, desperately needing time on his own and away from his duties as King. He had ridden to Gundabad, for reasons no one knew. He had been attacked and taken captive, much to Legolas's horror when he, the twins, and Aragorn found him. Legolas had never forgiven himself for leaving his Father the way he had. Thranduil had suffered much, but even then, remained very much the same. The Elvenking had remained eerily silent, never looking his son in the eye. It was then Elrond explained to him that Thranduil had been rendered blind and was suffering from the grief he had endured for hundreds, even thousands, of years. Legolas had never felt as helpless and guilty as he did then. He feared his Father's vision would never return and that Thranduil would never heal. That he would be lost from the world, seeing as he was practically lying at Mandos's doors.
He had never wept as much and as bitterly as he had then. Elladan and Elrohir winced, knowing the thoughts plaguing the Prince's mind. Legolas then allowed his lips to stretch into a smile.
"Our relationship improved greatly then..." he whispered. "Though there was still tension between us, it was not as strong as before." he turned to face the twins, eyes gleaming in the sunlight and his fëa glowing. "I had lost hope that he would return." He did not need to elaborate, for the twins understood exactly what he meant. Thranduil had become the caring and loving father he had once been when Legolas was an elfling. But as Legolas grew and hard times fell upon them, Thranduil seemed to drift away into a cold-hearted, impassive, Elf. Not that he hadn't been that way before, but it had grown worse and Legolas suffered greatly from it. Rivendell and the Greenwood's relationship became strained, though the twins and Legolas were still allowed to visit one another. Elrond, Glorfindel, Erestor, and the twins became a second family to Legolas, giving him hope and when Arathorn and Aragorn came into his life, he had been dragged away from fading.
There was a moment of silence as the three close friends stood together, gazing into the distance where Anor was sinking below the horizon.
"Dan...Ro." Legolas's voice, though hardly louder than a whisper, pierced the heavy yet comfortable silence that hung o'er them. The twins simultaneously turned their heads to look at their friend. "Could we go and search for my Father?"
"Of course, Legolas. Let us go." Elladan gently took the prince's arm and led him away from the balcony, Elrohir matching their pace as they left the citadel and headed for the stables.
It was not long after they had quickly gone and fetched their horses that the three left the White City and were travelling across Pelennor Fields. There was no sign of the Elvenking leagues from Gondor, which did not help ease the Prince's worry. Elladan and Elrohir, at times, dismounted, and searched the grounds for any sign of the King's tracks but found none. "Are you certain he was to arrive this morning?" Elrohir asked Legolas, who nodded.
"Aye. He wrote to me saying that he would arrive near mid-morning or noon." Elladan pursed his lips. He had sensed that something was not right before having arrived to Gondor a couple weeks prior. There was something in the air...a warning it seemed. He glanced towards Mordor, for some reason, feeling drawn to it, as though something were calling to him. His eyes narrowed. There was something about Mordor...It seemed different...But he could not place his finger on the reason why. He was snapped from his thoughts when Elrohir suddenly lurched forward, uttering a small cry, stumbling against Aervaya. His horse whinnied and Legolas was quick to leap from his own horse to Elrohir's side, Elladan close behind.
"Elrohir!" Legolas reached out and steadied his friend, who was clutching his side.
"What is it, gwador-nin?" Elladan asked, searching his brother for any sign of injuries but found nothing. He raised confused eyes to meet his brother's. Elrohir seemed bewildered as well.
"I...I do not know..." He gasped, tightening his grip on his tunic, leaning against Legolas. "I was fine...Then there was...a sharp pain..." His vision flickered and Elrohir fought to remain conscious. "Elladan...I do not feel so well." And with that, he promptly collapsed, hearing the surprised exclamations of his brother and friend before he knew no more.
"Ro! Ro, can you hear me?" Elladan sunk down beside Legolas, who still held his brother.
"He is unconscious." Legolas looked around. "We should not linger." Elladan curtly nodded, wondering what had led to his brother's collapse. He, too, felt the ominous change in the atmosphere. The sky seemed to darken as lightning lit the sky. The horses neighed and stomped their feet, ordering the Elves to make haste. They, too, knew something was very wrong.
"I do not understand..." Elladan worriedly scanned their surroundings. The wind suddenly picked up and caressed the two Elves, as though warning them of trouble headed their way.
"Why us?" Legolas and Elladan simultaneously sighed.
-Nescit Cedere-
"We're going in circles." I muttered darkly, dragging my hand along the wall as Thranduin trailed close behind, narrowing his eyes in order to see through the thick darkness.
"If we were going in circles-"
"Do not go there, Thranduin." I growled and the wood-elf chuckled, though his grip around his bow tightened. I knew he was feeling uncomfortable being underground, which I found odd. His people practically lived in a cave. How does that work? Though I knew Thranduil moved his Kingdom to protect his people but still...
"We should thank the Valar that there are no Goblins, or Orcs, or-"
"Or traps, or trolls," I continued.
"Or robbers, thieves-"
"-Assassins, traitors-"
"And the list goes on." Thranduil and I concluded, giving one another goofy grins. Thranduin suddenly became serious, tilting his head.
"What have we not run into?" he asked.
"A wizard or sorcerer." I said and he nodded.
"True. But now that you mentioned it, we probably will end up running into one."
"And dragging someone back home half-dead." We continued in silence as we were reminded of Estel and the others. I could only hope they were safe. "I still cannot sense him." I huffed. We came to an abrupt stop when a sound echoed throughout the cavern. We strained our ears to listen, wondering what it was. Thranduin gently squeezed my shoulder, moving to stand in front of me. I rolled my eyes, gripping the hilt of my blade. We remained silent, listening when it came again, but even louder that it caused the whole cavern to shake. Thranduin and I glanced at one another in uncertainty. If it was what we were thinking... A crisp and raspy voice rang out and the footsteps came to a sudden stop. My eyes widened.
" 'Tis an army of Orcs!" Thranduin murmured in surprise.
"Why did we stop?" a harsh voice demanded to know and I knew it to be a Uruk.
"Wargs smell something..." came the reply. Thranduin and I stiffened, knowing exactly what the wargs had sniffed out.
"Man-flesh." I found myself grasping Thranduin's arm.
"Do they mean me or someone else?" I inquired.
"I do not know." Thranduin replied.
"They're underground!"
"They mean you." Thranduin answered, taking my hand and bolting when the ground abruptly began to quake violently.
"They're bringing down the tunnel!" I exclaimed, watching as moon rays lit up the tunnel behind us and Orcs began dropping through the holes they had created and chased after us.
"Stay close!" Thranduin said and I refrained from pointing out that I could hardly go anywhere since he was practically dragging me by the hand.
"There's an elf!" came a gleeful cry from behind and I cringed.
"The sooner we lose them, the better!" I glanced over my shoulder to see there were several of them. I did not realize Thranduin had come to complete stop till I rammed into him from behind. Thranduin's quick reflexes allowed him to balance me. I was about to question why we stopped when I realized we were standing on the edge of a cliff, but that wasn't what caught his attention. I followed his eyesight to the rather large webs decorating the cave above us. I was rendered speechless by the sheer size of the webs and spiders crawling about it. "This is what Mirkwood had to deal with?!" I hissed in shock. Thranduin looked around but there was no way for us to escape with the Orcs catching up from behind- blocking our escape, and the abyss as well as the children of Ungoliath before us. I caught Thranduin's eyes and knew what he was about to do. At first, I wanted to object but when the Spiders noticed we were there and were now coming for us... "JUMP!" I lunged just as an Orc shot an arrow, knocking Thranduin over the edge with me. I suppressed a scream as we continued to tumble through the air, the butterflies fluttering wildly in my stomach as we plummeted down into the unknown. Just when I thought the fall would be never-ending, we crashed through something freezing cold.
I kicked wildly, desperately in need of air, emerging from the surface of the murky water, spitting out whatever I had nearly swallowed. "Thranduin!" I called out, searching for my friend. There was no reply. "Thranduin!" I tried once more and felt something grab me from behind. I yelped in surprise, but immediately calmed when Thranduin appeared beside me.
"Are you alright?" he inquired and I nodded, relieved he was well. "We need to swim to shore, quickly. Something lurks within the water." I shuddered at the way he had spoken. As quietly as we could, the two of us swam to shore. Thranduin crawled out and instantly dragged me out, helping me to stand. "I believe we should be out of danger-"
"RYN!" The both of us swirled around at the sound of my name just in time for me to see Thranduin get knocked down by something- or someone.
-Nescit Cedere-
Estel was growing even more concerned by the second. Arathorn had yet to awaken. He wondered exactly how hard his brother had hit his head. He continued to carry Arathorn as he and Faramina tried to find a way out. There was nothing but darkness. Darkness and cursed tunnels that seemed to go around in circles!
"I feel as if we've already passed that stone." Faramina whispered, staring at a rather large stone in the corner of cave.
"We have." Estel muttered, stifling a groan. Faramina jumped, not exactly expecting for a reply and looked to see that Estel seemed tense. Her gaze softened, knowing Estel was worrying over his brother's well-being. She was worried for Arathorn and the others. She knew Ryn would try to find them and would do so no matter what. She only hoped Ryn would be safe, but for some odd reason, knew that Ryn had probably already run into trouble. Faramina shivered, feeling the temperature dropping as the day grew older. Estel noticed and quickly unclasped his cloak, handing it over to Faramina. Faramina stared at it then at Estel, shaking her head.
"No, no, I couldn't...You need it-"
"I am mostly Elven, Faramina. I do not feel the cold as much as you do." Estel assured the Dunedain. Still, she made no move to take it. Estel, who had been prepared for Faramina's refusal, smiled comfortingly. "I will be fine, Faramina." Faramina shyly accepted the cloak, giving Estel a small smile before placing it over her shoulders. She mentally berated herself for being so nervous around Estel. She had known him her whole life but could never get over her shyness. Her father had told her he had been exactly the same until he had met Aragorn, the man who changed his life. The two continued their journey to find the way out of the cavern walked in comfortable silence.
"Do you..." Faramina began but her voice trailed off when Estel turned to look at her. She bowed her head, hiding her eyes with her bangs as she softly continued. "D-do y-y-you think the o-others w-il-ll be safe?"
"As long as Ryn doesn't do anything reckless they should be fine. I am certain they are well, Faramina." The ground suddenly began to tremble, causing Faramina to lose her balance and crash into Estel, who fell back, quickly twisting so Arathorn was safe and reaching out to steady Faramina, who had already fallen over him.
"W-w-what was tha-at?" Faramina shakily asked, looking around to see if she could find anything unusual. Everything looked to be normal.
"I do not know." Estel said, but had a feeling it was linked to Aranyth. "Valar, let her be safe." Estel's voice was so low Faramina nearly missed what he had said. She snapped her head towards him.
"You do not think..." She did not finish, already knowing the answer to that question. The ground shook once more and Estel used the wall to help him stand, extending a hand to Faramina who gratefully accepted it and stood. The sound of the tunnel collapsing reached them and Faramina's eyes widened. "Run!" she exclaimed, yanking Estel along as the walls caved in around them. Estel clenched his teeth together as a rather sharp rock struck his forehead and shoulder, feeling blood trickling from the wound but continued running, worried that Arathorn would get struck. Should his brother receive another blow...he would probably never wake again. Head wounds were not one to take lightly, that he knew. Soon, the shaking died down and the two slowed their pace. Faramina still clung to Estel, trembling from fright. Estel did his best to comfort her but could not do much because he was holding his brother. A sudden cry filled the air and Estel tensed.
"Ryn." he whispered, listening closely to the faint murmur of voices.
"...An...ui...!" He strained his ears, quickening his pace. "Thra...du..n!" He was certain that was Ryn's voice he was hearing. A yelp followed immediately by silence sent Estel and Faramina sprinting in the direction it had come from.
"RYN!" he shouted as Faramina ran before him. They ran through the entrance of the tunnel when Faramina gave a grunt of surprise as she ran into something and went tumbling to the ground.
-Nescit Cedere-
"Ai..." Faramina winced as she sat up and looked to see it was Thranduin she had knocked over. She could feel herself reddening in embarrassment as she leaped to her feet and shyly helped him to stand, apologizing fervently for having run into him.
"It is alright, Faramina!" Thranduin assured the young Dunedain, who had lowered her head to stared at the ground at her feet, which had suddenly become very interesting to study. I smiled and went over to her.
"Faramina!" Her head snapped up and I was suddenly pulled into a deathly tight grip as she embraced me.
"Ryn! You are safe!" I couldn't help but smile and return the hug twice-fold, relief pouring through me as I saw that she was well. My eyes wandered above her head and met those of Estel's.
"Estel!" I pulled away and walked over to him, refraining from tackling him into a hug. That was when I noticed Arathorn. "Arathorn!" I hurried over as Estel carefully placed him on the ground. I brushed the hair away from my brother's face and took in his pale complexion.
"He struck his head rather hard when we fell." Estel explained, kneeling down on the other side of Arathorn.
"We must leave." Thranduin's voice drew our attention and we noticed the Wood-Elf standing at the edge of the murky water, eyes drawn upwards in the direction of the webs.
"What is it?" Estel asked, looking to me. I shuddered before answering.
"Spiders."
-Nescit Cedere-
Welp, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I shall try my hardest to post more during the weekend. My sister has a tendency to steal the computer all the time!