Round Robin
Chapter 20
By Louise

It was as though he were swimming through a sea of darkness, made up of some kind of thick suffocating substance rather than water, his body refusing to cooperate as he tried desperately to escape its confines. Pain seared through his mind and penetrated every inch of him, inside and out.

After what seemed like an eternity, he felt like he was emerging from unconsciousness, the sensation of pain still lingering. From what Legolas could tell in his befuddled state, they were on a boat again. He could hear neither of the twins nor Aragorn, and, helpless as he was in the first stages of regaining consciousness, that was not very comforting.

Opening his eyes proved to be something of a hassle. Being an elf, he certainly wasn't used to sleeping with his eyes closed, even though the number of times he had to do so because of injuries of some sort were beyond his count by now. When he finally managed to pry his eyelids open, his blurry vision confirmed his suspicion that they were indeed onboard a ship again.

Looking around seemed like a good idea. First thing on the agenda was to locate his companions. Legolas slowly moved his head to one side, testing his neck's current range of motion. Wincing, he quickly closed his eyes again--that lamp in his field of vision did nothing to help his eyesight, and looking directly at it wasn't one of the smartest things he had ever done.

'Don't look at the bloody light,' he scolded himself. His next attempt at looking around proved to be much more successful. To his relief, Aragorn was asleep nearby, as was Elladan. But, he didn't see Elrohir. Concerned, turned his head a bit further, ignoring his protesting body. Another bed. Another elf. It was Elrohir.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Legolas returned his head to a comfortable position. What in the world had they gotten themselves into now? Thinking about their predicament, Legolas couldn't help but smile. Heading to Rivendell on his own wasn't at the top of his list of dangerous activities. Estel's futile efforts to come and rescue him with his one-man force was nothing new, and the two of them falling into some kind of predicament was nothing new either. Now they had dragged the twins into this mess as well. What should have been a grave and serious matter made Legolas' smile grow into a soft chuckle, as loud as his injured body would allow.

"Will we ever have a normal, pleasant outing together?" Legolas whispered in his mirth.

"Legolas?" Elladan's voice floated to the blonde elf's ears. The shuffling of netting and footsteps indicated to the bedridden elf that the twin was heading towards him.

"How are you feeling?"

"Wonderful. Shall we go swimming while we're out on the open water?" Legolas replied, a grin still on his pale and battered face. Elladan laughed softly.

"I am glad to see you in a brighter mood, but what could possibly be amusing about the situation that we're in right now?"

"The situation itself." The older elf's features furrowed in confusion.

"Think about it- how many times have we seen ourselves in situations such as this? I know I've lost count," he croaked out.

"You're not doing so bad in looks either," Elladan commented. A snort from Legolas put another smile on Elladan's face.

"Where are we?" Legolas asked softly.

"We're on a ship heading towards a small village. We need to get you and Elrohir some attention." The twin gazed down at Legolas' abused face.

"You certainly seem like you're doing much better," Elladan mused. He moved to look at Legolas' injuries.

"I don't know how much better I am, but I very much prefer not having chai--" he inhaled sharply as Elladan gently touched the prince's abdomen. His expression darkening, Elladan lifted Legolas' tunic, as Aragorn had done earlier, and his features did not brighten by even the slightest degree.

"How bad?"

"Bad enough. You're definitely bleeding internally."

"I already guessed as much." Silence followed as Elladan continued to check over Legolas. From the conversation between the two elves, Aragorn stirred. Looking over to Elladan over Legolas, he panicked- the earlier state that he had last seen the elf in fueling his fear.

"What's wrong?" Estel leapt up as fast as his own injuries would allow.

"Easy, Estel. It appears that Legolas may not be in as bad a state as we feared," Elladan said.

"It could just be a reprieve from earlier," Aragorn said, concern dripping from his words as he joined his brother beside Mirkwood's prince.

"True, but I much prefer him talking of something besides being cold," Elladan murmured softly.

"Are either of you looking to see how Elrohir is doing?" a soft, raspy voice came up from the bed before the two brothers. Elladan put a hand on Aragorn's shoulder and rose to do just that.

"You really scared me there, Legolas," Aragorn said.

"Sorry..." breathed the elf. Though he was able to speak now, and wasn't as overcome by pain as he was earlier, Legolas still didn't look good.

"How's Elrohir?" Estel asked Elladan.

"He looks all right. Better than Legolas, anyways."

"I do hope you're speaking in terms of wounds only, son of Elrond," Legolas commented hoarsely.

"Fear not, son of Thranduil, none of us dare dispute your superior looks." Elladan retorted.

The color still hadn't come back to Legolas' already-fair skin. His outward improvement didn't convince Aragorn that he was out of danger. His injuries were as severe as they had been earlier; and there was no telling how much worse he was going to get before they could get him to a healer's care.

"You're in no condition to be making smart comments like that, Legolas. Better you focus your energy on getting better," Aragorn voiced his worry again.

"I agree. We should be just about to the village by now, so rest for now," Elladan agreed.

"Perhaps one of us should check on our captain," Estel said. His elven brother nodded.

"I'll see how close we are." After Elladan left the cabin, Aragorn looked down at Legolas again.

"Are you really feeling better?"

"Comparatively, yes," Legolas gazed at Aragorn's face. "I should like to know how we've managed to find ourselves in a relatively safe position."

"I bet you would," Aragorn said with a grin.

"Estel?"

"Hm?"

"Would you put my shirt back down?" Blinking, Aragorn realized that Elladan hadn't returned the prince's tunic to its proper place.

"Don't like showing skin, eh?"

"Not when it's cold," Legolas whispered. Aragorn's eyes hardened in worry yet again and he pulled the blankets up over his friend once again. Hearing the door open behind him, he saw Elladan returning.

"How much longer?" the human asked his brother. The dark expression from the elf made Aragorn nervous.

"We've got a problem," Elladan said.

TBC...