Fili and Tauriel locked eyes and nodded, staring at each other, into each other's soul. Fili would repay the debt he owed her. But this meant so much more than that.
By agreeing to help each other – to work, side-by-side, they were making history, defying precedents. In all truth, they should sniff at each other and turn away. Kili should be dead – why would Tauriel try to save him?
But they were more than that, and the love of life itself had brought Tauriel to save Kili. It now brought Legolas into grave peril.
"We must return to the others. They will be worried," Fili said.
"Of course," said Tauriel. She turned, once again aloof, looking beautiful, hiding her pain and terror for her friend deep within herself.
Fili began to walk alongside of her. For a long moment, they were silent – two companions – and the silence was not awkward. Then Fili looked up to Tauriel.
"My lady," he said, gravely. "T'is okay to show fear and pain at the face of nightmares." Tauriel took a deep breath, clearly trying to keep her composure.
"I have been through much pain and hardship, Fili. I have faced nightmares. T'is easier to hide pain than fall to it," Tauriel said. For a second, Fili only stared at her. Stony, strong, she reeked of strength and power.
He could see why Kili was drawn to her, and he applauded his brother's ability to go against the role laid out by generations to act upon his feelings.
"I know you have been through hardship, my lady. I can see it in your great strength. You hide behind a mask, and I fear it can fall at ill-fated times," Fili said.
"I am strong enough to get through this!" she snapped, rage flashing in her stoic face.
"I know, my lady. It was only a suggestion, of course."
"I am sorry, Fili. I am upset, but that is no excuse to snap at you," Tauriel said with a sigh. "It-"
"Builds up inside of you until it overflows?" Fili said. "My lady, you must let it out sometime."
"Perhaps you are right, master dwarf."
"Oh, my lady, you do not know me well. I am always right," Fili jested. Tauriel smiled for a moment before her eyes darkened again. Woe was the ailment that plagued her so her mind could not be free and open to kindness and love.
Fili opened the door to the small house, slipping in with Tauriel behind him.
"How is Kili?" he asked immediately.
"He sleeps peacefully," Ӧin said. "There is no change."
"That is how it should be," Tauriel said. She looked to Fili, unable to tell them of Legolas' fate.
"We have bad news. The elf Tauriel travelled with – Legolas – has been captured. They ride to Dol Guldur on wargs. We must follow, and we must rescue him." Fili wasn't sure what the response would be, but he knew it would be bad.
The two dwarves that were actually conscious had no reason to help Tauriel, and Legolas had been nothing but ruse to all of them. In fact, Fili was rather sure that Legolas had stood on Bofur's head while fighting on the river.
"The elf!" Bofur exclaimed. "Why would we save him? He was not welcoming nor kind, and his King nearly killed us all!"
"Tauriel saved Kili, and she will ride after Legolas."
"So? Kili is not okay; he is not awake. The sleep is unnatural; is he even truly healed?" Ӧin said.
"Saes – please. Fili has promised to help me, but t'is a suicide mission for two."
"How could we even help?" Bofur asked. "Especially with Kili."
"We would need horses, and you would need weapons. We would bring Kili – he will awaken and be healed! Then we would save Legolas, my friend."
"Fili?" Ӧin asked. "You will go on this quest?"
"Yes, I will," Fili said. "I must repay her for saving my brother."
"Then I will come, too," Ӧin said. "We dwarves stick together!"
"As will I," Bofur said, but he still glanced mistrustfully at Tauriel.
"Thank you," Fili said. "We need to find Bard or one of his family."
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Legolas drifted in and out of consciousness as the warg rode on, helpless, pain flashing through his head. He groaned as the warg jarred to a stop. Forcing his eyes open, he realized that it was dark. He could see hardly anything.
"We stop for the night!" Bolg ordered. "Set up camp!"
Other orcs climbed off their wargs and began to build a fire. Legolas knew they could see better at night, and he knew these were no ordinary orcs. Normal orcs could not travel by daylight – it burnt their skin and was too painful except in the most desperate of occasions. These orcs had to be using dark magic – or they were new orcs, better, more improved orcs.
Bolg dismounted the warg with a grunt of effort. Legolas began to slip off, unable to stop himself, without Bolg holding him on. With a chuckle, Bolg grabbed him as he tilted, sliding off to the ground. He caught Legolas just before he hit the ground.
"So… helpless, elf. What happened to your strength, your poise? You are weak, elf, and you will break. I will make sure of that."
Unceremoniously, he dumped Legolas to the ground. Unable to catch himself, Legolas hit hard against it. Holding back a cry of pain, Legolas tried to roll over to his back, tried to protect himself as fear lit a fire within him.
"We rest for the night! There are no pursuers, and no one to hear the elf scream!"
Legolas' heart began to race. They intended to torture him. He knew what torture could do to soul and body. Yes, he of all elves, knew of torture. It had been he who rescued his broken mother and brother. He had seen their unseeing eyes and torn, bleeding skin. Legolas had seen the pool of blood under them.
That was going to be him. They were going to torture him – to break him – to destroy him.
The people of Mirkwood would search for him. Once they learned of Tauriel's death and his own capture. Someone would bring them his lost weapons.
'Legolas Thranduilion! Legolas Thranduilion!" they would cry, but there would be no Legolas Thranduilion to answer.
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Hey, guys! I know this is a short chapter, but the next scene is going to take time to write, so I wanted to post this.
A few things I need to address:
-The last line: I got the idea from Vladimir Nabokov who used a line somewhat like mine.
-The orcs. Yes, I know. I screwed up. Normal orcs cannot travel by daylight, so I bullshitted a reason that mine were because I had stuff planned and couldn't change it.
-Legolas' past. I made up a bit of my own. It is not against canon because there is no canon for it. I tried to make something that fits and will be alluded to throughout the story.
Thanks for reading!
Please review!
Disclaimer: I do not own! Tolkien owns all!