Disclaimer: I don't own Legolas, Elrond, or the twins.

"My sons will enjoy the surprise of seeing you, Legolas."

The Mirkwood Prince nodded, smiling. "And I shall enjoy seeing them!"

Elrond returned the smile as they continued to ride. The two elves were destined for Rivendell, after coming from Mirkwood Palace. Elrond had been visiting his old friend King Thranduil, and Legolas had asked to accompany him home. Elrond had welcomed the company of an elf who he considered a son, and had gladly agreed.

They were close to the Rivendell border when Legolas suddenly stopped his horse, looking around wildly.

"What is it?" Elrond asked, scanning the terrain.

"Orcs are nearby," Legolas told him, drawing his bow.

"Many?" Elrond asked, following his line of sight.

"I am not sure," said the wood-elf, with a frown. "But they are moving fast!"

The words were barely out of his mouth before the twang of bowstrings filled the air, and they quickly dismounted, narrowly avoiding the arrows.

A group of orcs suddenly plunged out of the woods, and Elrond and Legolas each felled two quickly with the help of their bows.

Legolas pulled out his knives and met another head on, swiftly killing it and moving onto the next. He managed to slaughter many of their foes without so much as a scratch…until a hidden orc loosed a lethal arrow. He couldn't hold back a surprised gasp when it slammed into the back of his left shoulder. Legolas staggered forward a step, but managed to keep his balance and somehow continue fighting.

Elrond slashed at the creatures with his sword, his skill of old unchanged. He saw the blond-haired elf obtain his injury, and fought with fury, trying to make his way towards Legolas. The orcs had effectively cut the two elves off from each other, but Elrond wouldn't allow them to further succeed in their ploy.

Legolas could feel blood soaking his tunic, and he fought to ignore the pain as he slashed at another orc, blocking the creature's blow and sending the orc's sword into another of his foes, killing the beast.

Elrond was finally getting closer to Legolas, but the orcs kept deliberately blocking him. He was relieved to see that the number of orcs was dwindling, and wondered how long the younger elf would succeed in holding his own against their foes.

Legolas saw Elrond attempting to reach him, but didn't see the ancient elf suddenly stagger when an orc managed to penetrate his defenses.

The orc who'd shot Legolas aimed an arrow at Elrond and let it fly, but Elrond saw him and pulled the orc that he currently fought into the path of the arrow.

Legolas saw Elrond's move, and watched as the orc archer aimed at the older elf yet again. Stabbing one last orc, he took out his bow and shot the archer—killing him, but not before the arrow was loosed.

Elrond had seen Legolas' action, and ducked beneath the last remaining orc, stabbing him in the stomach as the arrow sailed over his head.

Legolas lowered his bow, gasping at the agonizing pain that firing the arrow had caused his shoulder. He took a step towards Elrond, but dizziness suddenly overcame him and he fell to his knees.

Elrond took a deep breath and quickly hurried over to Legolas, dropping to his knees behind him. "Do you have any other injuries?" he asked the younger elf.

"No," Legolas said, trying to keep the pain out of his voice as he slid his weight off his legs to sit on the ground.

Elrond studied the arrow, removing his cloak and ripping strips from it. He then placed a hand on Legolas' back, grasped the arrow with the other, and quickly yanked it free, throwing it down and swiftly holding a piece of his cloak over the wound.

Legolas squeezed his eyes shut tightly, unable to prevent himself from gasping loudly from the intense pain. It nearly drove him to the ground, but he somehow held himself up, knowing that he needed to stay in that position in order for Elrond to finish his ministrations.

Elrond held the cloth over the wound, looking at the arrow tip to thankfully find no poison on it. He sighed with lightheaded relief, grabbing more cloths and tying a long strip around Legolas' shoulder to hold it in place. That done, he closed his eyes…the lightheaded feeling not leaving him…

Legolas took a deep breath, but gave a startled cry when something suddenly slammed into his back, knocking him flat on his face. Thinking that an orc had crept up behind them, he struggled, before noticing that the weight pinning him to the ground was too light to be an orc.

"Elrond?" he said, looking around for the other elf. "Elrond!" Pushing himself up with his good arm, he turned his head to see dark hair falling off his shoulder.

"Elrond!" Legolas exclaimed again, realizing that it was the older elf's unconscious body that was pinning him down. Rolling over, he sat up and gently laid the Rivendell elf on the ground, wincing at the pain in his shoulder as he searched Elrond for the injury that had so suddenly rendered him senseless.

Seeing blood heavily staining the other elf's tunic, Legolas located a tear in the material, finding a stab wound in Elrond's right side. It was deep, and Legolas quickly grabbed some of the unused pieces of Elrond's cloak and held them to the injury, pressing down hard.

Elrond moved slightly, feeling the pain even in his unconscious state.

Lifting the cloth, Legolas studied the wound and smelled the material, trying to detect the presence of poison. He found none, and replaced the cloth, relieved.

A stab of intense pain suddenly shot through his shoulder and he stifled a moan, using his good hand to try to stop Elrond's bleeding. He could feel his own blood soaking through his bandage and tunic, and knew that he wasn't going to remain conscious for much longer.

Looking around the area, he saw that their horses were gone. He sighed heavily, knowing that it was imperative that both Elrond and himself got home to Rivendell as soon as possible.

Turning his head so swiftly had instigated another round of dizziness, and Legolas closed his eyes, trying to force it back. Do not give in! Who will tend to Elrond if I lose consciousness? he told himself. Unfortunately, he didn't succeed; for his blood loss was becoming too great.

Elrond's bleeding wasn't slowing quickly enough, and that was Legolas' last conscious thought as his injury finally robbed him of his senses.