(-)Chapter 1(-)

Aragorn sighed tiredly as he trudged down towards the large guarded gates of the cities large dungeon's. He hated this place, so dark and empty. He desperately wished he didn't have to be here.

The two guards nodded to him and stepped aside to allow him entry, recognizing the captain immediately.

Aragorn muttered something to himself as he entered the musty, almost cave-like building and decended the stairs. The torches on the walls barely gave enough light to see by and the human vaguely wondered how no one have tripped on theses stairs and died yet.

He unconsciously reminded himself to be sure to have better lighting put in here when he took o- No! He shook his head frantically, terribly annoyed with himself, more and more often as of late he had caught himself making plans on how to improve the city. It was bothering him greatly.

He stopped in front of a certain cell and cleared his throat to allow the man inside to know he was back.

This man would be facing his trial the next day. It did look good for him though. He had been charged for stealing his son-in-laws horses and killing them all. Of course his son-in-law was of the mind that anything that happened to him had to be someone elses fault and had managed to find enough reasons to blame the man to put him down here to await a trial.

Aragorn smiled encouragingly to him, though he felt the very opposite of happy at the moment. He had just found out that a man under his command just had his two young daughters killed two weeks ago. The two they believed guilty of the crime were down here as well.

"Hello Jerinon," he muttered as happily as he could, "I had to come down to tell you that they found evidence that your son-in-laws horses had escaped their stalls which had not been locked and chased off by wolves. You're trial is tomorrow morning, but I'm sure it'll go well."

The man smiled widely, looking incredibly relieved, "Thank you dearly Captain Thorongil"

"Don't thank me," he smiled, "I had little to do with it, I am just the messanger."

The man shook his head, he had heard of what the captain had done, he'd been out tracking those horses in hopes of proving him innocent. 'T was odd how some people wouldn't take credit for the incredible things they did while others would make a big deal out of helping his friend catch a stray chicken or some such thing.

There was a slight moan from a couple cells over and Aragorn's gaze shot that way.

The man followed his gaze, as he had not heard the small sound and nodded, "Ai, those are the two they caught that killed those two children," he growled.

Aragorn shook his head, forcing a smile, "Do not be so quick to judge, surely you learned something here?"

The man went silent but smiled, "Always looking for the innocence in people," he shook his head and smiled again, "'t is a good trait that many wish they had but refuse to believe at the same time."

Aragorn forced another smile, but glanced back in the other direction as a lounder moan came from the cell. He frowned deeply.

Jerinon stared in that direction again and frowned, "From what I've heard about elves it can't be good for them down here."

"Elves?" Aragorn's eyes widened fearfully.

Jerinon frowned and nodded, "Is this that important?"

"Greatly important if I'm right about just who they are..." he muttered worriedly before moving down to the cell and glancing in, he jerked away almost immediately, closing his eyes in grief.

He turned and ran down the hall back up the stairs and turned to the guard on his right, "I need a pail of heated water, rags, some bandages and the keys to the cells," he spoke quickly, forcing the fear and worry out of his eyes.

The guards glanced at each other in confusion but shrugged and did as asked.

Aragorn quickly went back to the cell and unlocked the door, shoving it open as quietly as possible.

He didn't do anything until the guards brought him what he had asked before closing the door behind him and sitting beside the more injured of the two. Both had arrow wounds, likely by a couple of impatient younger soldiers who had come to bring them here. But they also had many bruises and cuts, some of which looked quite painful from what looked to be a rather dangerous run-in with orcs.

He sat down and pulled his father's head into his lap, gently pushing his dark hair out of his face and started wiping the blood off the elf and cleaning out his wounds.

The elf shook slightly and it only caused Aragorn's fears to rise, he knew elves did not do well surrounded by stone, that was a trait he had as well but it was no where near as bad as what they felt, he also knew if they stayed in such a place for too long it could cause them to begin to fade. The fact that their eyes were closed only deepened his fears further.

The human shuddered and carefully bundled up his cloak to lie the elf's head on before moving to clean the other's elf's wounds as well.

Aragorn forced himself to go into his healer mode in order to keep from shaking as he cleaned Legolas's wounds. The wood-elf was worse off than the Lord of Rivendell.

When he finally finished with the two is was well after dark. He leant back and sighed sadly finally falling out of the healing mode he had slipped into. He shook slightly and closed his eyes, humming to himself to break the silence.

His eyes flew open when he heard a slight movement and latched onto his father.

The elf's blurry mind did not even realize the fact that he was not alone or had been cleaned up. All he noticed was the fact that his back hurt where he had been sliced by an orc a while ago. He managed to push himself into a sitting position and immediately glanced over at the other elf and he froze. His eyes were no better than his mind though, due to how far along he was in fading, and he did not recognize his son.

Aragorn frowned as he noticed a dark, protective aura suddenly engulf the cell. The dark, albeit slightly blurry look in the elf's eyes actually scared him, but he dared not move in fear of hurting his friend, and he just stared.

In the elf's mind all he saw was another human, he did not remember where he was, but he knew he was in a cell with Legolas and some man, and due to their current conditions, he did not think this to be a friend.

Aragorn was pinned against the wall in no time, although had he struggled it would be the other way around, the elf was a lot weaker than he had expected. The human did not struggle though he simply pulled one arm free and set it calmly on the elf's shoulder.

"Ada," he spoke quietly, "Shhh... ha im, Estel, lle ná al mae ada kum" he said softly. ((It (is) I, ..., you are not well ... lie down.))

Elrond immediately jerked back in shock and horror of his actions, trying to clear his eyes as the memories of what had happened bodded into his fuzzy mind.

Aragorn stepped forward and gently pulled his father back to the ground before he fell over.

The elf shook his head slightly, "Estel I'm sor-"

"Ada," Aragorn managed a smile and pulled his father into a careful hug, "don't say it, you have naught to be sorry for."

"I didn't even recognize you," his voice was quiet but still managed to sound forceful.

"That is not your fault ada, you know this. You should not make yourself feel guilty about things you have no control over."

Elrond just sighed.

Aragorn forced a small smile, "Now get some rest, we both know you need it."

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

Aragorn bit back a sigh, human trials seemed so different compared to the way the elves did it, and yet there were many similarities as well. The one on trial was judged, which was similar, but the main decision was made by a group of people that sat off to the side. The captains were usually among these people.

The man stared ahead of himself silently, trying desperately to hide his look of complete boredom. Another difference, human trials were so long and drawn out... who'd have guessed it? They took longer to judge someone than immortal beings... he rolled his eyes.

Teralin sat beside him, a serious look on his face.

Aragorn glanced at the 44-year-old captain and managed a slight smile, he knew the man was just as bored as he but he still managed to look interested. The ranger had a harder time doing so, he was tired and worried and already knew how this was going to end.

Just when he felt as though he was about to fall asleep the trial ended. Jerinon was free now and Aragorn was the first out of the room.

He first went back to his house and grabbed a couple extra pillows and a large, thick blanket and brought them back to the dungeon's.

He quickly lay them down and carefully moved Legolas onto it first then did the same with his father before folding the blanket over them and going off to speak to the Steward.

He quietly knocked on the man's door and waited a moment before he was called in.

Ecthelion glanced up from some paperwork he was doing and smiled when he saw the man, "Ah! Thorongil! Come in, what is it that you wish for?"

Denethor, the Steward's son, glanced up from where he had been helping his father, narrowing his eyes at the man before turning back to the papers.

Aragorn pulled his slightly exasperated gaze away from Denethor and shifted slightly, "Sire," he spoke slowly, "I have to speak to you about the two elves you have in the dungeon's."

Ecthelion frowned slightly, his eyes darkening, "What about them"

"Well, I know them sire... and I know they would not do what they have been charged for," he shifted uncomfortably, "I realise you can not simply let them go, but I ask that you allow me to at least house them."

Denethor's gaze shot up again and he glared darkly at the man, "You speak of nonsense! We can not release them from the dungeon's just because you know them Captain, without being locked in they could escape."

Aragorn had to force himself to keep from snapping at the man, he hadn't been himself lately and he had become less patient than he usually was, "Perhaps, but if they are left in there they will die! They can not be kept in the dark surrounded by stone with no contact with nature."

Ecthelion's look had changed with this information and he looked more worried than anything else, "They will die? The guards are supposed to tell me if anything happens to the prisoners, they will be fine for now."

"I do not wish to argue with you," he said slowly, "but your guards have obviously not told you everything. When I went down yesterday they were fading."

A/N

Elven Kitten: OKAY! So this is my rather pathetic excuss for a beginning! Whaddaya think? Lol. I hope you all enjoyed it so far. I'm kinda in the middle of making dinner as well (Please don't ask why I did this now, even I have no clue, lol) so this is gonna be quick. :)

Kalayna - I'm glad you decided to review, no matter what may be going on with you computer and whatnot... Lol, I'm glad you enjoyed it though:) And I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter!

IwishChan - Yupses! There is a sequal! See? Points up lol :P I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!

Lynn-G - Lol, I'm glad you liked that bit, it was fun to write. :)

sielge - Lol, I don't know about 'let' :P lol, hope this came soon enough:P

marbienl - Lol! Luv your take on that first bit, made me laugh, but somehow I'm doubting he's afraid of Aragorn... :P. Lol, it's odd how you remember things like that even though you can sometimes forget what happened the week before... lol! The only odd thing I remember ever eating was my cat's food... :S Ugh... Ew... I can't understand who would go out just to eat bugs... that's rather nasty... XP... lol, (Locust maybe?) Lol, rambling is fun! Ranting is better :P Lol! Oh yes, that would have to be the ONLY place he could hide... and yeah, I think the smiley face would still attract a small amount of attention... :P So glad you enjoyed it:) Hope you'll enjoy this one as well:)

Aranna Undomiel - Lol, so glad you enjoyed it! Hope this one will live up to your expectations:)

MicroChips - Lol! I do believe you were the only one who said they didn't understand what had happened... although part of me is guessing they just didn't say anything... :S... lol. EBIL DWARF! Happy Balrog! Huggles it ... ouch... XP flameage... XP IT BURNS! XP lol

grumpy - Cha! I miss him too... :( lol, but is all good, Huggles Aragorn lol

washow - Thank you! I'm glad it was believeable! It took a bit of thinking to figure that one out... I understand what you're saying though, that was a bit in which I thought I was lacking as well... I really should have put in more about what had happened... which is actually rather annoying because I had an idea about what to do about that and then I totally forgot... XP... I'm not pleased with myself for forgetting... XP But I'll try to work it into this one or something to help with that. Unfortunetly I may not be able to because it may seem kinda awkward but I'll see... Thank you for your input though! It was greatly appreciated! And sorry for rambling there for a second:P

E.K.: Well! I hope you all enjoyed! Hope you all continued to review:)

Namarie!

Elenmeoi