Chaos Unleashed: Part Two

Chapter Five

Kathryn's POV

"...Kathryn. Are you awake yet?"

My response was a weak groan as I felt a deep throbbing in my head the second I came to my senses. Oh God... Everything hurts.

A low laugh from above me. "I will take that as a yes. You seem like your normal, perky self. Would you like to run a few laps around the halls with me?"

"Go away," I grumbled from where I was pressed face down into my pillows and mattress. I already knew this hangover was gonna be hell; I didn't need Boromir rubbing it in my face as I suffered.

But of course, he went on. "You brought this upon yourself, you know. Legolas and I warned both of you girls not to get too carried away."

I winced. He was talking awfully loudly. "Can you whisper?" My mouth was so dry, too. I felt like death in every sense of the word.

"No."

"You're a dick."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, dear friend."

I sighed. "Do elves have special medicine or something for this?"

"I don't know. You would have to ask King Thranduil about that, I'd imagine."

"...I hate you."

Boromir laughed, and I felt him reach down to pat me on the shoulder. "You should be nicer than that, you know. Without me, you'd probably still be passed out on top of a table somewhere."

"I'd much rather still be unconscious right now."

"Do not worry too much about it," he said, finally softening up a bit. "Admittedly, I have endured many of these as well. I will help you through it."

"Thank you," I said quietly, feeling an uneasiness begin to settle in the pit of my stomach. Fearing the worst, I closed my eyes for a moment again, preparing to finally sit up and face the world. "Now if you don't mind, could you give me a moment and go find that medicine stuff now? I have to get acquainted with your weird toilet system."

oOo

Erin's POV

I plodded out of the bathroom area with my eyes only half-open and immediately collapsed back onto my bed. Never had I been so grateful for the naturally low lighting in Thranduil's halls. My head pounded with every heartbeat as I laid there, wanting to cry because of how awful I felt. Jesus Christ above, I am an idiot. Why did I do this to myself? Why? At least I knew I wasn't alone in my suffering. Legolas had been in a little while ago to check on me and said that Kathryn was curled up in her bed with a hangover as well. If anything, though, that's just even more embarrassing. We'll probably be the joke of the Third Age for the elves from now on. Mentally, I sighed. Way to go, Erin. Your first impression to all those immortal, perfect people is now 'that sloppy human girl who can't hold more than a drop of wine.' At least I had Legolas and Boromir around. They'd been kinda cycling back and forth between us girls, giving us medicine and a few other things to keep us going through the day as we recovered.

I was disturbed from my self-loathing session by a knock from one of them on the door. "Come on in," I said as loudly as I dared from where I lay on my side. The door opened, and I closed my eyes again. Footsteps are too light to be a man's. Must be Legolas. "How bad was I last night? Was I just like a normal 'everything is funny' kind of drunk? Or was it more 'hey, I just met you two seconds ago, let's make out' king of drunk?" Then my eyes shot open as a worse alternative crossed my mind. "Oh God. I didn't throw up on anybody, did I?"

There was a short pause. "Forgive me, Lady Erin, but I was not in your vicinity much at the feast."

Aaand Legolas is suddenly a girl. I frowned and twisted around in my bed, catching myself as I went too fast, making me slightly dizzy. Never mind. "Oh." I blinked and sat up slowly, wondering why Tauriel was in my room. "Sorry, I thought-"

"It is no trouble," she cut me off. "Legolas would have come, but he was pulled aside by his father for something. He sent me here to bring you this." She extended her hand, and it was then that I noticed the steaming cup.

"Oh, thank the Lord," I exhaled, gladly accepting the mug of warm athelas tea. "I needed more of this." The perfect painkiller to ease the party's after effects. I took a sip and nodded to the redhead, swallowing the hot drink. "Thanks for bringing this."

She smiled. "You are welcome, Lady Erin."

"You can...just call me Erin," I replied with a slight hesitation. I still wasn't that open to the idea of us being friends, but the formalities weren't necessary, either. And I was at least going to be civil with her, too.

Tauriel nodded, and then laughed a bit. "You seem to be recovering well."

I lounged back a bit in my bed. "Am I? I'd have no idea."

"It seems that way," she answered. "You and Kathryn are lucky to have such good caretakers."

I smiled a bit at that and stared at my feet. "Yeah. I bet some elves would kill to have the Prince of Mirkwood waiting on them." My gaze flicked to her for a second, looking for a reaction, but she didn't really give one. "Even though I really don't deserve it. I threw myself out there, so... I had all this coming. It was fun, though."

"I am glad," she said. "I cannot remember the last time the King allowed mortals to be guests at one of his feasts."

"I guess it's because I'm special," I joked. She laughed a bit, and I looked at her for a moment, wondering. "...How much do you know?"

Her tone became a bit more serious at the question. "I know that you are from another world, and that you and your friend somehow managed to transport the Fellowship from Middle-Earth to there."

I raised an eyebrow. "You know about the Fellowship?"

"Not much, but enough to understand the purpose of their mission and a few of those involved."

I nodded slowly, taking another swig of the tea. "So Legolas told you, then." She nodded back to me. Hmm. He really does trust her with everything. Not sure how I feel about that.

"How much do you know?"

I fought back a smirk. More than you. "I know who's in it, where they wanted to go, and...some of what happened along the way. Legolas told me lots of stories when they lived with us." I didn't feel like trying to explain technology to someone today. Though I did have to give her some credit for keeping the conversation going even though this was really the only time we'd ever talked. Maybe she's not as bad as I thought. "So you and Legolas are pretty close, then?"

"Yes. I have known him since I was an elfling." A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "The King has told me that he suspects Legolas' feelings to have grown into something beyond friendship, but I cannot believe that to be a possibility."

And just like that, I was eating my own words. My jaw clenched slightly. I hoped she hadn't noticed. "Well, what do you think? What would you do if you found out he loved you?"

She thought for a minute. "I...do not know what I would say... It would be improper form someone of his status to be seen with me in that light. And his father...he has also said that he would never allow his son to pledge himself to me anyway."

I nodded slowly, and there was a lingering silence between us. I stared at her as her eyes glazed over and looked elsewhere. She was contemplating the idea. Before things could go any further, I cleared my throat. "Well! I think I'm going to try and sleep this hangover off some more." My head still throbbed, but the tea was already working its magic and lessening the pain. "Plus, I don't want to keep you from whatever duties you're supposed to be doing."

"Yes, I should be going," she agreed, snapping out of her trance and heading for the door. "I wish you a fast recovery, Erin."

"Thanks. See ya around," I said absentmindedly as she left. I sat there for a few seconds, thinking, then finally sunk back beneath the covers on my bed with a sigh. Don't dwell on it too much, Erin. Green isn't your color.

oOo

Kathryn's POV

Two days after the party, Erin and I were both hangover-free and back on our feet. Or at least...we would've been, had Legolas and Boromir not called for a meeting between the four of us bright and early that morning. So there we were, spread out in Boromir's room to talk about what our next step would be. Erin and Legolas seemed pretty set on the idea that we were going to go out and look for Kaia and the others. I knew Boromir was still scheming on his own, and that worried me, but for now he seemed to be playing along. He hadn't said a word about Gondor so far, and neither had I. We both just sort of mutually agreed to go with the flow.

"We need to leave as soon as we can," Erin said. "Who knows where they could be? The more time we spend here, the longer they're out left to fend for themselves."

"That presents our biggest problem," Boromir replied. "We don't have any idea where to start."

"He is right," Legolas agreed. "We cannot afford to waste time by taking a blind guess as to where they will be. If we are wrong, then all our efforts will have been for nothing."

"What else can we do, though?" I spoke up. "I'm not going to just sit around and wait for news of them. It could take forever for word to reach here if they're somewhere far away."

"And that's assuming that they've already been found," Erin added. "My biggest concern is that they're out there with no weapons, no food, and a hobbit that carries the Ring around his neck. If they run into any of these new enemies that Thranduil's warned us about, they're toast."

Legolas exhaled. "I wish there was something we could do, but our hands are tied. We cannot leave until we have a set destination."

My heart sunk. I was just as freaked out as Erin was about the possibility of our friends being alone and helpless in the wild. Aragorn would be with them, at least, and he obviously could fight and live off the land if he needed to, but there was only so much he'd be able to do for everyone else. But Legolas was right – we were out of luck until we could get a solid idea on where they'd be.

Finally, I broke the silence. "So what are we going to do?"

"We wait," Legolas said firmly. Erin frowned, about to protest, but he didn't let her. "We have no other option. I will speak to my father about this; he may be able to assist us in finding their location. But until then, we must stay here. Are we all satisfied with this?" He looked at the brunette for a minute, daring her to challenge him. I could tell she was mildly pissed about the decision, but eventually she gave in with a short nod. "Good."

"Then there is nothing more to be said here," Boromir concluded. A few more nods, and Legolas stood up from where he'd been sitting in a chair to go talk to his dad, with Erin soon following him out the door. As soon as she was gone, Boromir turned to me. "Kathryn, I have an idea."

"Shoot."

He lowered his voice a bit, just to make sure we wouldn't be caught. "If Thranduil cannot help us, then we may be stuck here for awhile. I do not want to waste time sitting here when I already know the route to Minas Tirith. We could sneak out in the night and take off without a trace."

"And how do you plan on getting past all the guards that are stationed everywhere?" I asked skeptically. "It's not going to be that simple. We can't just walk out."

Boromir then raised an eyebrow. "Wait...is this your way of saying that you are going to join me?"

I hesitated. "I... Yeah. I'll come with you." Something about this still didn't feel right, but I'd convinced myself that it was just nerves talking. I wasn't going to let him go on such a dangerous journey alone. And he was kind of right. The safety of Gondor was really important.

He beamed. "Thank you, Kathryn."

"Hey, this doesn't mean I'm totally one-hundred percent okay with it," I warned. "I just...I see where you're coming from. And I don't think you should go by yourself."

"I had hoped you would understand," he smiled. "It means much to me to have your support, and I promise I will protect you from any harm as we travel."

It's not my safety I'm worried about, I thought, but kept it to myself. "Well, either way, we need to seriously start planning this out. Who knows how much time we have left now?" I grabbed the chair Legolas had just been sitting in and pulled it over to his bed, where he sat on the edge to face me. "Let's talk."

oOo

Erin's POV

I walked briskly through the halls, still kind of mad that Legolas had just jumped up and made a decision on behalf of the entire group so quickly. There has to be some way we can find them. They can't be too far away, right? But my mind quickly switched gears as I thought about the short conversation I'd just had with Galion, Thranduil's personal butler. Apparently he had been sent to find me and deliver a message from the king himself – I was asked to meet him in his personal chambers, which Galion then graciously gave me directions to. I felt a small prick of anxiety as I wondered what I could've been summoned for. Maybe he's just going to call be out for getting so drunk, I don't know. I didn't really know what to expect from him at all. I'd hardly talked to the guy.

Approaching the stairwell that I'd been told would lead me to the king, I took a breath to compose myself before heading down. It wasn't super-long or anything, but it turned a bit here and there, and within a few seconds I found myself tiptoeing into a room with several large, stone pillars that were carved to look like tree trunks, stretching high up to meet the ceiling. There were other beautiful glass and metal decorations scattered around, and a lavish rug here and there. Torchlight flickered about the room, giving it a deep, warm glow, and a large pool of water was set in the ground not far away from me. After a minute, I recognized it as the same room from Desolation of Smaug that Tauriel had confronted Thranduil about the spiders in. It was stonily silent, though. I wondered if this was even the right room for me to be in.

Just as I opened my mouth to call out, a familiar voice stopped me. "There is no need for you to be wary, Erin. I am here." From some other entrance across the room, Thranduil appeared, a large, patterned brown and gold robe trailing behind him as he seemed to glide across the floor. I noticed his crown was missing, and he generally just seemed to be in a much more casual state.

Realizing then that I'd just been standing there in silence, I coughed and spoke up. "You wanted to see me, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, I did." He didn't come to me, though, instead choosing to go to a small table set near his little indoor hot-tub. I heard the pop of a cork and nearly groaned out loud. Please, no more wine. "I have acquired information which you may find to be useful."

I perked up at that. "Oh? What is it?"

Thranduil finally turned to face me – and sure enough, there was a freshly opened wine bottle in his hand. "I know of your plans to search for your friends, Erin."

I blinked. "How... We just talked about that five minutes ago! Legolas was on his way to find you and tell you how it went, actually."

He smirked at my reaction. "I have my sources. But your friends...they are important to you?"

"Of course."

"Tell me, how far would you be willing to go to protect them?"

"I'd die for them."

He held my gaze for a moment, as if searching for any sign that I was lying. "You are loyal, then."

"Fiercely so, King Thranduil." It was one of the few things about myself that I was proud of.

"And what if one of them were to betray you?"

I frowned as he watched me. "...Why would any of them betray me?"

He chuckled lowly at that. "Why does anyone betray anyone, Erin? There are many people who would do whatever it takes to protect those they love. You know this, you are an intelligent woman."

I was thoroughly confused by that, but rolled with it anyway. "And you're telling me this...why?"

He chose to answer my question with another one instead. "If it were Legolas?"

Okay, what the hell. "He wouldn't," I said, not a hint of doubt in my tone. "Never."

Thranduil turned to pour himself a glass of wine, his back now to me. "You trust him?"

"With my life."

The elvenking paused before speaking again. "From how he speaks of you, I would say he holds you in the same regard."

Again, I was thrown off a bit from what he said. "He talks about me?"

"He has spoken about many things from his time spent in your realm," he said, "but you were one of the more common topics."

"And...what has he told you about me?"

Thranduil turned around again, wine in hand. "That you are compassionate, and unwaveringly loyal to those you care about. Fairly clever...though sometimes with unrealistic expectations of the outside world. Critical of others, and prone to jumping to conclusions before knowing all the facts." I tried not to react too openly. He was spot-on with all of it, but I was slightly saddened that Legolas had noticed my flaws. "But selfless as well."

I swallowed, feeling mildly uncomfortable under the king's cool gaze. "I'd be lying if I didn't admit to my faults. No one's perfect. But you still haven't told me about this 'information' of yours." I narrowed my eyes a bit, trying to figure out what he was up to, but it was nearly impossible. I'm painfully reminded why you're one of my favorite characters, Thrandy. Thank you.

"Yes..." He trailed off and took a sip of his wine for a moment, looking away as if deep in thought. When his eyes finally snapped back to mine again, they didn't seem as scrutinizing as before. "Your friends are here."

My eyes widened. "Here? Like...in Mirkwood?"

"No," he corrected me. "They are quite far away from here, but they have been spotted."

"How do you know? Where are they?" I was desperate for answers now. We have a chance. We could save them.

"I have eyes and ears spread all across Arda," he explained. "You might call them spies, though they are not. They are simply sources of information to me when I require it." Another sip of wine. "A report came from a group of these men stationed on the edge of the southern Emyn Muil, telling of a strange flash of blue light and high winds appearing inside the labyrinth a few days ago." I sucked in a breath. That has to be them. "I have sent a response telling them to guard all exits, and that if a group should emerge matching the description of your friends that Legolas has given me, they are to be held at a camp on the edge of Nindalf until you come for them."

My heart lept. They're here. They're in Middle-Earth, and they'll be safe. "Then we should leave immediately!" I exclaimed.

"But you do not have a plan for how to get there, do you?"

I shrugged, trying to think. "I don't think it would need to be too in-depth, would it? We'd just go directly south through the rest of Mirkwood and cut through the Brown Lands to reach them."

"That would be a dangerous road," the elvenking warned. "You would be subjecting yourselves to whatever creatures haunt this forest, and pass close by Dol Guldur as well."

But I shook my head. "It would take longer for us to go out and around the forest, and I'd rather have the cover of the trees over our heads for as long as possible than be running across open plains the whole time. Too much open space, and someone's bound to see us and attack. I mean, it'll be dangerous any way you slice it, but going through Mirkwood seems better than the other option."

Thranduil thought about my argument for a moment, then seemed to agree. "Then if this is your plan, I will request a favor from you."

"...Okay," I replied. "I mean, I certainly owe you for the hospitality you've shown us, so...fire away."

He smiled a bit, amused by the way I spoke, but then took on an air of seriousness again. "I will provide you with an escort through Mirkwood; one who knows those paths well and can guide you on the safest roads possible to the edge of the forest. But along with that...I would also ask that you guarantee the safety of my son."

I tilted my head slightly. That was an unexpected request. "You want me to protect Legolas? He's the most skilled archer in practically all of Middle-Earth! Why would he need someone like me to help him?"

"Because not even Legolas is prepared for the creatures Sauron has created and spread across our lands." The king's expression changed again, now into one of firm, protective fatherly love...and possibly a sliver of worry? "I have endured sending my son off into what could easily be a fruitless mission to destroy evil forever, and then have him be ripped away from me even further by an accident of your doing. Do not expect me to send him off into this ruined world again without some sort of protection."

I felt my own heart soften at his words. I was moved by seeing this softer side of Thranduil and how much he cared about Legolas. And he's right to worry. Legolas is all he has left now. I was silent for a moment, simply matching his gaze that was just barely tinted with enough fear for me to recognize that it was there. "...I will see it done," I said quietly, nodding. "Legolas means almost as much to me as he does to you. I swear on my own life I will bring him back home safely."

Thranduil seemed to relax the tiniest bit, and he returned my nod once, straightening up. It was his unspoken 'thank you.' I didn't need another word out of him to know that I was dismissed, and quickly headed back up the stairs to leave the king to his thoughts. A small ball of worry settled in my gut as I realized I had no idea how I was going to be able to defend Legolas at all. I had no idea how to fight, other than a few sporadic, half-hearted 'training sessions' we'd done back on Earth over the summer. But that didn't matter now. I'd sworn an oath to the king, and partially to myself, too. I would uphold it any way I had to.

A/N: Looks like things are finally starting to pick up! :) It's a shame, though. Now that I've finally started getting used to writing for Thranduil, they have to leave Mirkwood. :( I wish there was more I could've done with him. He's fun to write for. Very intimidating guy. I might sneak in a little bit more dialogue between him and Legolas before we move on...but who knows. :P And sorry for not seeing Kaia and Company in this chapter, but I had ground to cover with our Mirkwood crew. The others will be back with a vengeance in the next update though, I promise. :)

Thanks in advance for reading and reviewing! C: As always, your support drives me to keep this story going!