AVALANCHE

Chapter 3 --- Letting Go

"Frodo? Wake up, now. Frodo, open your eyes."

Warm hands were cupping his face. A soft, insistent voice. With an effort Frodo opened his eyes to see a somewhat blurred Legolas smiling at him.

"Legolas?" Frodo whispered.

"That's right. Try to stay with me." Legolas reached behind Frodo's head to pull up the hood of the hobbit's cloak, and he brushed the snow off Frodo's legs. "How badly are you injured, Frodo? Tell me."

Frodo looked down to find Pippin still huddled against him, shivering with cold. Legolas had pulled Pippin's hood up as well. "I, I tried to keep Pip from seeing where we were, but I couldn't."

"I'm sure you tried your best," Legolas said. "Did you look as well?"

"No," Frodo said. "But I'm sure we're near... we must be close to... I thought we should stay here." He closed his eyes for a minute. Everything was too bright. "So dizzy... I feel sick, Legolas."

The Elf touched the hobbit's face. "You were right to stay here. Stay awake, Frodo, keep talking. Where are you hurt?"

"My head," Frodo sighed. "My arm, it really hurts, I think something's broken."

Legolas gently pushed Frodo's left sleeve up a bit and frowned at the bruised, swollen wrist. He stroked Frodo's cold fingers. "Is Pippin hurt? He won't talk to me."

"Just scared, I think," said Frodo. He looked down. "Pip, can you hear me?"

Pippin looked up at Frodo and nodded, but said nothing.

"Do you hurt anywhere?"

Pippin shook his head.

"All right, good." Legolas started to untangle Pippin's fingers from the front of Frodo's jacket, but the hobbit just shook his head violently and wouldn't let go. Legolas thought for a minute, then swiftly untied the blanket from his belt and tied it to Pippin's.

"Pippin, I want you to let go of Frodo and hold onto this blanket," Legolas said. Pippin just stared at him. "Look up there, Pippin. Look." Legolas pointed up the slope, and Pippin's eyes followed his finger. He saw the blanket-rope and Strider up above, holding it. He saw Merry.

"Pippin, this blanket connects you to Aragorn, and Gandalf, and Merry. They're holding onto you, they'll keep you safe. I'll keep you safe too. Just hold onto this, Pippin, and don't let go. There, that's right." Slowly, breathing hard, Pippin let go of Frodo's jacket and grabbed the blanket fiercely.

"Good." Legolas pulled Pippin very slowly to his feet and turned back to Frodo.

"Legolas, how long... when did..."

Legolas peered closely at Frodo, concerned. "It hasn't been very long, Frodo. Perhaps 20 minutes since you fell. Possibly less." He kept talking in an attempt to keep Frodo focused, as he checked both hobbits for any hidden injuries. "I had just begun to understand these tiny bits called 'minutes' into which Men divide their days. Now that I have met hobbits, apparently days are not divided into 'minutes' but the time it has been since one meal and how long it will be until the next!"

Frodo smiled weakly, but suddenly winced as Legolas' fingers found the swelling on the side of his head.

"Is everyone else all right?" Frodo asked.

"Yes. And you soon will be as well." Legolas laid his hands gently on Pippin's scarf. "I'm going to borrow this for awhile, Pippin. Frodo needs it now." He untied Pippin's scarf and knotted it, placing the crude sling around Frodo's neck and easing his injured arm into it. "I'm going to tell Aragorn what's happening, then we'll start up. There may be things he needs to prepare."

"Take, take Pip first."

"I cannot," said Legolas with a smile. "I am not brave enough to face Sam's wrath should I leave you here!" He rose to his feet and called up the slope. "Aragorn, I'm bringing them up now. Frodo hit his head and is very dizzy. I believe he may have a broken wrist. Pippin appears to be uninjured, but is somewhat in shock." He saw Aragorn wave his hand, showing that he understood. "I have the 'rope' tied to Pippin now." Aragorn waved again, and Legolas saw him untie the blanket from his belt and hand the end to Boromir before kneeling down to talk with Sam and Merry.

Legolas knelt down again in front of Frodo. "Put your right arm about my neck. Let's see if you can stand." He gently eased the injured hobbit to his feet, but Frodo suddenly felt the dizziness grow more intense and he sank back down.

"Going to be sick..." he murmured.

Legolas put his arm around Frodo's shoulders and supported his head while the hobbit convulsed and vomited into the snow. Frodo thought it would never end, but at last he lay gasping and exhausted in the Elf's arms, his head pounding even more painfully than before.

"I'm sorry," Frodo whispered.

"This is not something you can control, Frodo," said Legolas softly, wiping Frodo's mouth with the edge of his own cloak. "Perhaps it's too soon to try standing just yet." Wrapping his left arm around Frodo the Elf rose to his feet, lifting Frodo off the ground and cradling him easily with one arm. He reached his right hand down and took hold of Pippin's cloak.

"We're going now, Pippin," Legolas said. He started walking with Frodo and half-pulled Pippin with him as the young hobbit stumbled painfully on cold legs. Pippin kept his eyes glued to the blanket in his hands. Legolas had said it would keep him safe. He could feel it tighten as Boromir slowly pulled on it.

Frodo sighed and closed his eyes. He tried to keep his arm around the Elf's neck, but all the energy he had spent in staying awake and worrying about Pippin and even talking to Legolas seemed suddenly to have drained out of him. The urge to sleep was just too overpowering. Slowly Frodo's tenuous hold on consciousness dissolved, and Legolas felt him sag limply as he spun down into the darkness.

** TBC **