A/N Thanks again to my beta BlackShaftedArrow (aka Arrow) for the continued support.

To those of you who favourite/followed/reviewed, Thank you so much.

And to you guys, the lovely, horrible people that started this. This is all your fault!

Disclaimer: Contrary to popular belief, I don't own any characters or places from Lord of the Rings. But I still own Astald.

So, on with the final chapter

Chapter 3-

Strider hauled his unconscious friend over his shoulder, adjusting his pack so that his friend's head nestled comfortably against it. He took even more care than usual walking through the forest. He felt guilty for doing this to his best friend, but he would understand, right? Strider laughed at that thought. The elf would hunt the Ranger down and make him pay for what he did. He was a stubborn wood elf and not even an army of orcs would suffer his wrath.

Strider looked back at his burden, "I'm going to be killed". He said in a voice akin to fear.

The rangers laughed. "Don't worry Strider. We'll abandon you to your fate when the elf comes." Halbarad said in mock sympathy. Astald was quick to add, "I'm almost tempted to help the elf to see how many ways he tries to kill you." The deathly glare that the rangers received only added to their mirth. Strider just ignored their laughter, lost in his thoughts. How many ways could the elf kill him?

The company's laughter subsided once they reached the mouth of the cave. The journey was so merry they had almost forgotten the reason why they had set out on the walk. Ever so carefully, Strider settled his friend down against the furthest wall of the cave and removed his blindfold. With a silent nod the rangers retreated out of the cave until they were all assembled outside the entrance. Then they set to their next task, trapping their friend inside.

The cave was crudely carved, dug to offer temporary shelter, so it didn't take the rangers long to collapse the entrance. Strider watched as his friend was obscured from his view by the rockfall until all that could be seen was a wall of stone, blocking the only means of the elf's escape.

He sighed, "There's no going back now, I'm definitely going to be killed". He only hoped that the wall lasted long enough for him to write his will.

Legolas groaned. He enjoyed the few hazy minutes he had between dream and reality before he was grounded to painful reality by the sharp painful throbbing in his head. He lifted his hand to rub his temples when he realized he couldn't. Why were his hands bound together? Come to think of it, why were his legs also bound together? And then he saw them. The big beady yellow eyes glaring back at him. "Oh, Valar."

When the rangers returned back to the camp, they were still merry from last night's conquest. "I wager twelve silver coins that the elf will make it back by nightfall." Halbarad announced. Astald quipped, "I wager 20 silver coins he will arrive two days hence with three broken limbs." Halbarad narrowed his eyes, "And how can you be so sure that he will return injured?" Astald laughed and looked over to Strider. "I didn't mean him."

Legolas reached for his blades but cursed as he only made purchase on two empty sheaths. The warg saw his hesitation and pounced, pinning its prey under its weight and gnawing violently at its torso, ripping flesh and muscle as easily as tearing paper. This earned a sharp cry from the elf and a satisfied snarl from the beast. In its frenzy it tore the rope around Legolas' hands. He let his arms flail around loosely search the floor for anything that he could find. Anything that would just make this end.

Nightfall approached and still the elf hadn't returned. Halbarad sighed and then handed over his money.

Hope was fading fast and so was the elf's strength. He was beginning to give up; he couldn't endure this much longer. And then his hand brushed against something. A rock? He gripped it tightly and summoned his remaining strength. He smashed it into the back of the creature's skull and prayed to Elbereth that it would be enough. One well aimed blow, that was all it took to kill the warg. The struggle subsided and the fight was over. But that was all he had. He was tired. So tired. All he managed was to slide from under the beast before his head rolled back and darkness overcame him.

When he woke he gasped in pain and hugged his chest. It only took one look to the side at the felled warg beside him for him to remember what had happened.

He painfully rose to his feet but grasped the wall as dots formed in front of his eyes and threatened to send him back to the floor, from where he feared he'd never return from. He wanted to give up, just lie on the floor and stare up at the cave roof. It was easy there, there was no pain. But he knew that he would never forgive himself if anything happened to Strider and he might be the only one able to rescue him. And with this thought, he dragged the first rock from the mouth of the cave.

He did not know how long it had been, but, finally he had made a gap big enough to crawl through. His usually strong, lithe fingers were scratched and bruised from the jagged rocks that obstructed his passage. He dragged himself through the gap and landed in a slumped pile in front of the cave's entrance. Not even the warmth of the sun could comfort him when he did not know what fate had befallen his friends.

When Legolas' strength returned he searched for any trace of where he should go and was surprised to find that his captors had not made any attempts to conceal their tracks. Clutching his torso and steeling his resolve, he staggered in the direction of the footprints.

It was the dawn of the third day and still the elf had not returned to the camp.

"Be patient Strider," Halbarad said, "He will come." Strider smiled back, but Halbarad knew that his friend was only smiling because he was grateful for the reassuring words. He did not believe them to be true.

A twig snapped mere meters away from the camp, startling the rangers. They unsheathed their swords. Strider advanced in the direction of the noise, with Halbarad and Astald at his side, each adopting fighting stances. The remaining two rangers guarded the camp.

Legolas tensed. He was so close to his captors, but his legs folded beneath him and he plummeted to the forest floor, snapping a twig on landing. They were going to capture him. His consciousness was fleeting as a blurred figure ran towards him and he already succumbed to the darkness before he could hear their cries.

Strider ran towards his friend and knelt beside him. "Legolas!" he shouted. But the elf did not reply, his head simply slumped into Strider's shoulder. Halbarad walked over to join his chieftain and unconscious friend and firmly grabbed Strider's shoulder, forcing him to look into his eyes. "He is still breathing," he said reassuringly, "but we need to get him back to the camp." Astald joined the others and carefully grasped Legolas' arm and hauled it over his shoulder. He turned to ask Halbarad to do the same but found that he had already mirrored his action, carefully supporting the elf's weight. As they carried Legolas back to the camp, Strider kept a silent vigil over his friend.

It had been two days since the rangers had discovered Legolas in the forest and he was yet to regain consciousness. Strider busied himself with caring for the elf. He applied athelas and fresh bandages to his friend's hands and torso. Soon, when there was nothing else he could do for Legolas, found himself talking to his friend and begging him to be alright.

Halbarad watched this scene from a distance with a worried frown on his face. "Two days," he whispered to Astald. "Two days and he has yet to regain consciousness."

Astald mirrored his worried frown when he turned to observe Strider. "He has not slept these past two days and he refuses to leave Legolas' side, even to eat".

Halbarad sighed, "I fear we may lose them both".

On the dawn of the fifth day Legolas finally stirred. He let out a pained yelp and doubled over in pain as he tried to lift himself. A firm hand held his shoulder and gently forced him back down. "Stay down." Legolas heard a familiar voice say. As he settled back down the hand retreated from his shoulder and instead guided his face to the owner of the voice. But he didn't look how Legolas remembered. He had black bags under his eyes and his face was pale and drawn.

"Strider?" He asked. "It is I, mellon nin," Strider replied.

"You look awful." Legolas quipped. Strider could not hold back the grin that spread across his face. "You look worse."

Legolas suddenly became more alert as he remembered what had happened. "Strider, the bandits, what if.." Strider placed his hand back on his friend's shoulder to silence him. "I know," he replied softly. "I'm sorry."

Legolas narrowed his eyes In confusion, "why would you be sorry?", he asked. Strider avoided Legolas' gaze and instead glanced around the clearing. Legolas didn't expect an answer to his question and was surprised when in a voice only discernible to elves he heard, "Because we did it." Striders' head dropped with guilt and sadness at this admission. Legolas didn't have the heart to ask his friend what he meant. So they just sat In companionable silence for the rest of the day.

On the fifth day Legolas was well recovered and only pale white scars lay testament to his trial. It was on this day that he finally discovered what had happened.

Astald and Halbarad had arrived to tell Strider to get some rest and had practically dragged the man to one of their own sleeping mats, much to his protests. Legolas was grateful for this, and told them as much when they returned to check on him. Strider looked exhausted, he needed some rest. But curiosity was playing on his mind, maybe Halbarad or Astald would know why Strider felt so guilty. So, reluctantly, Halbard told him of the ranger trials. Astald did not expect the emotion that this evoked on Legolas though. The elf smiled. Legolas could see the confused glances on each of their faces and simply replied, "My Ada told me of the infamous ranger trials", "Fool-hardy rangers gallivanting around on secret missions". Halbarad laughed, he had heard the rangers called many things, but fool-hardy seemed to sum them up.

In the days that followed, Legolas was glad to see that some of the colour had returned to his friend's face and he no longer suffered from being unable to sleep. But Legolas knew that guilt was playing on his friends mind, and, he hoped in time that he would be able to forgive himself. But, in the meantime, he would try and help him along. It was with this thought that Legolas joined the rangers around the campfire, playing with his newly returned blades. "This is going to be fun" he said playfully, practising stabbing motions in the air. The rangers shifted nervously under the elf's gaze. "Men, it has been an honour serving with you", Strider said, mustering as much courage in his voice as he could. With that, he grabbed his sword and ran as fast as he could into the undergrowth, pursued seconds later by a very pleased looking elf.

"Three broken limbs you say," Halbarad proclaimed to Astald "I'd wager four".

A/N Review Replies;

Gladen-Green-Leaf. I know, I feel sorry for Legolas too. Hope you like the ending and thank you so much for your compliment!

Saphira. Ha Ha I wouldn't want to be in their position either! Good predictions, Hope you liked the ending.