First Meetings

“Speech”

// Thought//

Chapter 2

When Legolas awoke it was already late in the morning.  He quickly dressed and headed off in search of some food. Breakfast had been served long before, so he was forced to scavenge in the kitchens.  Once he had eaten, he was planning on heading down to the archery field, but as he was collecting his bow and arrows, one of his father’s servants approached him.  “Prince Legolas, your father requests your presence in his study as soon as you are able.”

“Thank you, I shall go there now.”

The servant bowed and then left.  Dropping his bow, Legolas swiftly walked down the corridors to his father’s study wondering why he was being summoned.  Once he arrived, he knocked on the door and waited for permission to enter.  “Come in,” Thranduil’s voice sounded odd, as if he had something on his mind.

Legolas opened the door and slipped inside.  The sun was shinning in through the giant bay windows at the far side of the room, casting light onto the many scrolls and pieces of parchment that littered his father’s desk.  A small fire cackled merrily in a wonderfully designed fire place providing the room with a homely feel.  Legolas’ mind flashed back to the many hours he had spent sitting on the floor before the hearth playing with his wooden toy soldiers.  Slowly his eyes moved from the fire to where his father was sitting behind his desk.  “You wanted to see me, ada?”

“Yes Legolas, please come in and sit down.”  Legolas sat in front of his father’s desk in one of the straight-backed leather chairs.  “My son, it has come to my attention that you have been rather down lately.”  Legolas opened his mouth to disagree but his father simply raised his hand.  “I know you would say you are fine, but your brothers and I disagree.  You have been going from patrol to patrol almost continuously for some time now and I believe you need a break.  We have all agreed that you need some time away from Mirkwood; it would really do you some good.  Why don’t you go visit the twins in Imladris? I’m sure they would be happy to see you again.”

“No, I don’t think so. Things aren’t ideal around here; I should really go out on patrol again.  You need all the warriors you can get,” Legolas replied, obviously uneasy. He squirmed in his chair a bit before straightening again.

“Legolas, why must you do things the hard way?  Here are your options: you can either volunteer to go to Imladris or I can place an order forbidding you to join a patrol, and then send you away with a troop of royal guards who will escort you to Imladris as they did when you were still an Elfling.  Which shall it be?”

The young prince sighed.  “I do not wish to intrude on Lord Elrond’s household.”

“Does this have something to do with your last visit?  Why will you not tell anyone what happened?  You used to love going there.”

“Things change.”

“I have already written a message to Lord Elrond informing him of your visit.  The messenger left last night and will be riding hard, so you will not be able to stop him.  Lord Elrond will be expecting you to arrive and may get worried if you do not show up.” Thranduil presented his winning card, arching one blond eyebrow at his son. Legolas appeared horrified.

“Oh ada how could you have done that!  Lord Elrond will not be happy to see me there, I can guarantee you that.”

“Regardless of whether he will be happy or not, you will be going.  I am doing this for your health Legolas, not to punish you, now which option do you choose?”

Legolas sighed clearly defeated. “I will not be lead to Imladris like an Elfling.”

“Good, I was hoping you would volunteer,” said Thranduil in a cheery tone.  “Now go get packed, you still have many hours of daylight ahead of you if you leave now.”  Legolas stood to leave, a grim expression on his face.  “I love you ion nin.”

 Legolas chuckled.  “You have a funny way of showing it.”  He immediately regretted his words as he saw his father’s face fall.  “I am sorry adar, I did not mean that, I now you only want the best for me.  I love you too.”  He strode over and embraced his father before leaving to pack.

*~*~*~*~*

The journey out of Mirkwood, over the plains, and across the Anduin was uneventful.  Legolas had decided to walk simply because of the fact it would take longer to get to his destination.  On his fourth day since setting out, he reached the base of the Misty Mountains.  He began to climb, hoping to be able to get well over the high pass and on his way by the time night had fallen.  He knew that the main goblin caves were near the top of the mountain and he was attempting to get a relatively safe distance away from them by the time night came.  Unfortunately, he had misjudged how many hours of daylight he had left and by the time darkness fell, he was still walking along the high pass.

He walked as quickly and silently as he could.  There were caves all over the area, filled with hideous creatures, and knowing his luck he would probably run into them.  Then, as if to prove said luck, a screech rang through the night.  Legolas pulled out his bow, preparing himself for the inevitable fight.  As soon as the orcs began pouring out of the cave, Legolas began to fire.

He had taken out many orcs but was quickly running out of arrows.  As soon as his supply was out, he switched to his twin knives, blocking and attacking, moving so fast it was almost impossible to follow his movements...almost.  As Legolas spun and blocked a blow intended for his head, an orc lunged forward and plunged his scimitar into the Elf’s side.  Not thinking of the pain that was quickly spreading up his body, he quickly took the arm off the orc and, biting down on his lip to prevent crying out, swiftly ripped the weapon out of his side, allowing the blood to flow freely. Returning his focus to the remaining orcs he began to reengage in battle.  He easily plunged his knife into the stomach of an overly aggressive orc, then pivoting around, brought his other knife up just in time to prevent a blow to his head.  Legolas brought his free hand up and slit the throat of the creature before turning to the last remaining orc.  Quicker than the eye could follow, he threw his knife and it implanted itself squarely into the beat’s chest.  Wasting no time, he quickly collected his arrows, only leaving those that were broken, and picked up his discarded bow and knife, then left the area before more of the vile creatures came.

Once he had descended partway onto the other side of the mountain, a bit of the adrenaline started to wear off, to be replaced by pain and a feeling of light-headedness.  He carefully lifted up his tunic and looked at the wound.  It wasn’t pretty.  The cut was deep and ragged, but shouldn’t prove to be fatal if he could get it to stop bleeding.

Legolas tore a strip off of his cloak and pressed it against himself, hissing in pain as he did so.  He carefully wrapped the strip around his middle and tied it off in a tight knot, effectively creating a bandage.

Once he was satisfied with his work, Legolas continued to stumble along the path.  He was feeling extremely woozy from the blood loss.  “Just make it a little further and then you can rest,” he kept telling himself out loud; unfortunately, he wasn’t going to get the rest he needed.  He was walking along an extremely narrow strip of the path but was concentrating more on the pain of his injury than his footing.  Legolas didn’t notice the broken up part of the path until it was too late and the dirt was giving way underneath his feet.

Legolas tried to grab onto something, anything, but it was no use—he soon felt himself falling. Before he knew it, pain exploded in his right shoulder and side of his head, and then he knew nothing.

TBC...

Elvish Translations

Adar/Ada = Father/ Dad or daddy

Ion nin = My son