Ok, so a large majority of you wanted Legolas and Tauriel to meet up first and then the four of them hunt the orcs together so here you go :) leave comments, reviews and further suggestions for future chapters please :P
The orcs were not hard to track, their footsteps were heavy and made solid imprints in the ground. Although, once they were out in the hard-grounded open plains they would be a lot harder to track. He only stopped running once. When he found the blood. The splash of red stood out against the green and brown hues of the forest. He knelt, inspecting the blood, it was a slighly paler colour than that of humans or hobbits, and it definatly wasn't orc blood. This was elven blood. He gasped when he saw what was lying just a few centimeters away. A dagger he had seen many times before. He picked it up carefully, before standing, his eyes scanning the forest floor. His keen eyes picked up on more patches of red along the forest floor. He knew that much blood might not be fatal, but it sure was close.
He tucked the dagger into his belt and set off running again, desperate to find her. An image of her body, blood staining the ground around her came into his mind and he gasped. It hurt, there was a pain in his chest at seeing her like that and he could only imagine what it would be like if he actually found her like that. He continued, now desperate to find her.
Finally, he saw a flash of red that wasn't on the ground, and he kept running until he was quite close to her. "Sixty years may have passed Tauriel, but you still cannot hunt thrity orcs on your own, let alone these new uruk-hai." he called to her.
"But again, I am not alone." her reply came, and she stopped running, turning and walking towards him.
"But this time were you so sure I would come?" he asked, as they stood face to face.
She smiled, "I am glad you did."
He smiled back, before catching sight of her arm. He growled and gently lifted it to get a better look. The wound was not long but it was quite deep, and the skin surrounding it was covered in blood. "We have to keep going." Tauriel said, pulling her arm away, but she winced as she did so.
"No, we need to bind that wound, and then wait for Aragorn and Gimli and we will then follow their tracks." he corrected her.
She sighed, seeing the sense in his plan. She reached down and tore a strip off her tunic, starting to wrap it around her arm with her other hand. Legolas leant forward and put his hand over hers.
"Let me," he said and she nodded consent, dropping her good arm back to her side.
He took the green strip and held her arm as he wrapped it around the wound. She looked up at his face as he gently tended to her wound. They were silent for a second before Legolas spoke again.
"What happened?" he asked.
She sighed, "I found Boromir and he was fighting to protect Merry and Pippin. I joined him, but he was shot and the hobbits were taken. He told me to follow them. I assume he is no more?" she asked quietly.
"They are sending off his body then joining us." he told her.
She nodded, she had expected this already.
"How did this happen?" Legolas said nodding towards her wound that he had paused wrapping up.
"I stuck my arm out to stab an orc and another sliced it."
"I assume that orc is not one of the ones still living?" he asked, and she heard a slight tone of humour in his voice.
She smirked, "I twisted the dagger as I plunged it into him." He nodded, he knew she would have been furious.
"You could have waited for me this time." He said.
She looked down and he remembered her answer to his question before, "I am glad you did" she had not actually answered his question.
"You were not so sure I would follow you this time." he assumed.
She sighed, "It is a Captain's job to follow her Prince, not the other way around." she told him.
"I'm fairly certain it is not a Captain's job to sleep beside her Prince either." he pointed out and she blushed.
"I didn't know if you were still willing to follow me." she whispered softly.
He paused, "I will always follow you. No matter how far you go" he said, so quietly she almost didn't hear it. She turned away, she didn't deserve this. Legolas went back to tying the cloth around her wound, and gently finished it off.
"What of Frodo and Sam?" Tauriel asked, changing the topic of conversation.
"They will continue on to Mordor alone." Legolas told her.
"Their path will be dangerous, especially for two hobbits." she said.
Legolas nodded, "But still, I do not doubt the courage of hobbits, especially those of the Baggins family."
Tauriel nodded, smiling when she remembered the young hobbit Bilbo. "They are brave folk." she agreed.
He remembered he still had her dagger, and he pulled it from his belt, handing it to her. She took it, twirling it once in her hands before sticking it back in its sheath on her back. "Thankyou." she said, smiling at him.
He smiled, "I didn't want my gift to go to waste," he simply replied. She nodded, remembering when he gave them to her as a congratualtions for her promotion. She rarely did not have at least one of the twin daggers with her.
They sat together until they heard the footfall of Aragorn and Gimli running through the forest. They smiled as they came into view, Aragorn first, then Gimli a few feet behind.
"Tauriel," Aragorn nodded to her. "I am glad to find you alright."
Tauriel nodded. "The Uruk-hai are headed for the end of the forest and the open plains." she said, eager to continue her chase.
Aragorn nodded, and the four of them set off, Aragorn in front with the two elves following and Gimli bringing up the rear. Tauriel's arm hurt slightly but it was better now it was bound and the blood had stopped flowing. With Legolas at her side once more, she was ready to hunt.