Chapter One

"Drip, drip, drip"

The constant sound of water dripping seemed to reverberate throughout the stone corridor in which the Fellowship of the Ring was currently traveling. The dampness that gathered upon the cold rock walls leached away any warmth that could be found within the surrounding environment, warmth which had been until only recently nearly overpowering. Darkness seemed to almost consume them, the only luminosity coming to the small areas where the light from Gandalf's staff struck.

Frodo shivered abruptly as a stream of cold air ran down the length of his back seeming to weave through his worn and tired traveling cloak.

Wrapping the battered article further around himself, he looked into the gloom that encircled the passageway, his mind wandering back to the fight with the watcher in the water at the gate of Moria. The event had occurred several hours prior, but to the hobbit it seemed as if he could still feel the tentacle arm of the watcher upon his leg.

He was thankful for the other members of the fellowship, for without them he would not have made it and the ring would have been lost to the creature. It saddens him that the ancient trees that stood beside the doors had been lost, the watcher ripping them up and tossing them upon the magnificent doors, causing the entire entrance chamber into Moria to collapse.

The fellowship had been lucky that no one had been crushed in the avalanche of rocks and dirt. He knew that Legolas had only had just made it, for he had been standing furthest from the doors when the watcher had attacked. Having released a final arrow into the beast, the elf had leap towards the gate, but just before he had reached safety a slimy tentacle had sprang out of the water blocking his way. Then, in a move that almost defied logic, Frodo had seen the Elven prince almost fly over the obstacle in front of him, hurdling it as no man could ever have achieved. The falling rocks had blocked the rest of the scene from the eyes of the Ring-bearer, and his heart had nearly stopped with fear for his companion. It was only afterwards, once the rubble had settle and the quiet almost overwhelming, that he had heard Strider's deep voice asking the elf if he was alright. The sound of the graceful, if a little unsteady voice replying that all was well, had made Frodo almost weep with joy.

Now having spent hours within the all-embracing darkness of the ancient dwarves home of Moria, he was attempted to weep for an entirely different reason. He wished that he had never decided to come here, but he knew that there was no other way, even before the Watcher had destroyed the doors, there would had been no other way, save Moria, for the Fellowship to pass over the Mountains. They had tried the Red Horn Pass and had failed, and all other ways were being watched. No, this was the only way and they had to try it, no matter what fear it held.

To distract himself from the blackness, Frodo tried listening to the sounds that surrounded him. It seemed quiet at first, apart from the constant movement of water droplets falling from the ceiling above. But soon he was able to pick out other noises. He had noticed that since he had inherited the ring, that his sense of hearing had approved significantly. He could hear the brushing of cloth against stone and the footsteps of his companions.

He began to make a game of it, trying to guess whose footsteps he could hear. The loudest and easiest were that of Boromir's, for the Gondarian's heavy tough boots made a rough sound upon the uneven ground. Next easiest were those of Gimli, for the dwarf had iron shod shoes that clacked upon the rocky surface with each step. His hobbit companions were light on their bare feet, going nearly unnoticed. But being a hobbit himself, he could easily distinguish between the slow steady paces of Sam, who was walking just behind him, to those of Merry, who had a quicker stride. Pippin footsteps were the most distinguishable, as the young hobbit was always changing pace, slowing down to glance at or explore something or otherwise speeding up to catch up to the others.
After these however, the game became more difficult. Gandalf footsteps were surprisingly almost silent, as were those of Aragorn's. Frodo could only just make out the wizard's, mainly due to the fact that he also had the noise of his staff that rapped upon the ground as he moved. The Rangers' steps were much quieter than that of Boromir's, the other man of the company so Frodo decided that it must be due to Aragorn's upbringing with the elves, as well as his Ranger training, that helped his unobtrusiveness.

However, it was the last member of their fellowship that was the most difficult to pin point. Frodo has previous tried to listen for the elf's footsteps while they had been traveling through the land of Hollin, just before the foothills of the Misty Mountains. He had no luck then and he suspected that he would have none now either. It amazed him that elves could move so silently. Still since there was little else to do but stare into the darkness, he decided to try anyway.
Concentrating carefully he tried to listen for Legolas' steps. It was difficult as he had the sounds of the others to contend with as well. He knew that the elf was walking at the furthest most point of the line, acting as rear guard for the group so he concentrated his efforts on those noises he heard from behind him. At first he could only hear the long strides of Aragorn who he knew was walking just in front of the elf. But then suddenly he heard an odd sound. It was like something soft had brushed against the rocky ground of the passageway. It sounded like a footstep, but there was no following sound of a second step.

It must be Legolas, he decided after a moment. He had accounted for everyone else and through he knew that they were in a dangerous place, and there were many things that could be about, he didn't believe that there was anything treacherous about at the moment, for others in the fellowship would have sensed it already. Therefore the footstep must be the elf's. But why could he only hear one footstep, Frodo wondered.

Could the elf be injured? He thought abruptly.

"Legolas?" he asked all of a sudden, realising only then just how loud his voice sounded in the silence. He heard the others of the fellowship stir, and wondered if each had been deep in thoughts their own.

"Yes, Frodo?" Legolas replied, his soft voice questioning. He had not expected the ring bearer to speak and so wasn't sure of the reason.

"Are you limping?" Frodo asked.

The question caught the Elven prince by surprise and he stopped abruptly in response. He saw his companions ahead of him also stop and turn to look back at him. Unable to stop himself, he quickly lowered his right leg that he had been holding up ever so slightly, though he suspected that he had been too late as he saw Aragorn's eyes flash with concern.

"Are you?" the ranger asked, he voice suggesting that he would know if the elf should lie.
There was a slight pause as Legolas considered what to say. He knew that he could not deny being injured and he wondered how Frodo had found out as he thought that he had been hiding it rather well.

"I may have hurt my ankle" he revealed reluctantly, not looking at the Ranger only a few paces ahead him.

"When?" Aragorn asked, he voice darkening.

"At the doors, when I jumped" Legolas said hesitantly "I landed on it wrong". He could see the anger building in his friend's eyes at his deceit, through it was the wizard that spoke next.
"Why did you not tell us" the wizard asked softly.

Looking up at the wizard, Legolas did not know how to respond. He wasn't sure why he had not told the others of his injury. A part of him knew that he had been wrong to keep it a secret but the other half of him knew there was little that could be done to help him at that moment by the doors so he had not wanted to worry the others.

"Legolas?" the wizard asked again, pulling the elf from his thoughts.

"There was no time at the gates" he said truthfully. "We could not have stopped and there is little that can be done to help. I will heal in time"

Aragon looked as if he was going to speak, but Legolas knew what he was going to say so he continued "I'm sorry that I did not speak up before now. I had not planned to keep my injury secret. I just did not want to worry everyone, for nothing could be done to help anyway".
"Ï can bind it" The Ranger argued, but he was stopped from continuing by the Wizard.
"We cannot stop here and it will be a few hours yet before we can rest. Can you walk further, Legolas? He asked.

"I will be fine" the elf replied quickly.

He felt the wizard's eyes upon him, seeming to bore into him seeking the truth. Then suddenly the feeling vanished and Mithrandir turned to continue the journey, calling to others as he did so
"Come we must descend to the lower levels before we can rest".
As the rest of his companions took one more look at the elf before moving off, Frodo hesitantly approached the prince.

"I am sorry Legolas, I did not mean to cause you discomfort. But I wish that you had said something sooner. I am sure that Gandalf could be convinced to stop even for a brief time should you need it"
"No, Frodo. You have no need to apologise. I should not have kept it hidden. But I will be fine to continue. It does not pain me much" Legolas felt guilty for not telling the entire truth, for his leg was aching quite a bit. However his guilt vanished when a small simile that came upon the face of hobbit at his words.

"I am glad that you are not hurt any further, when we were at the gate I feared the worst" Frodo began to say but he was interrupted by the arrival of Sam.

"I'm sorry Sirs, but Gandalf is moving further ahead, and we should keep up with him, he having the only light source and all"

"Yes, Sam, you're right. We must keep moving. This is no time or place for conversation" Frodo replied smiling at his friend and servant, then after taking one more look at the elf, he turned and followed Sam into the vanishing light of the wizard's staff.

Now there was only Legolas and Aragorn left is the darkening passage. The elven prince looked questioningly at his friend, as the Ranger did not seem inclined to move. There was an odd look upon the man's face, and then abruptly the Ranger moved to stand at the side of the passage, waving the elf to move in front of him, a simile appearing on his face as he did so.
Knowing that there was no point in arguing, Legolas allowed his friend to take up the rear guard position, glad to know that he had such a friend at his back.

The Fellowship continued on for a few more hours, their path always descending. The air grew ever warmer and the dampness that plagued them before had now vanished. The surrounding walls were now hot to touch and the air dry.

Pippin was tired, his feet ached and he felt as if he had been walking for days. He wondered just how much further they would be required to walk before Gandalf called a rest. He hoped it would be soon. Even as he pondered this, he suddenly walked into the back of Merry, who he had not realised had stopped in the middle of the path.

"Pippin!" Merry said shortly as he stumbled forward. He was saved from falling by Boromir, who caught and steadied him. The man looked down at both hobbits with a slight simile.

"Careful, Master hobbits, it seems as we have run into a small problem" the Gondarian said as he indicated to them to move pass him to see.

As he shifted forward Pippin saw that Gandalf and Gimli had stopped at the edge of a large chasm that had eaten away the path ahead. The distance between them and the continuing path was about eight hobbit strides. He gulped back a lump of fear, the distance wasn't a problem for the larger folks but it terrified him that he may have to jump that distance.

"How are we going to get across?" asked Frodo beside him who was looking up at the wizard worriedly.

"It is not too far" said Gandalf encouragingly "We larger folks will help you so you will not fall"

"Legolas" he continued, indicating to elf to pass to the front of the group.

Legolas moved forward and took in the scene. The path directly in front of him vanished into darkness, the edge brittle. He would need to be careful as not to break any more of the pathway as he jumped. On the other side of the chasm, the landing did not seem as treacherous, but there were many small rocks and stones which covered the surface of the path, which would make the landing a little tricky. An added concern was that on side of the path fell away into nothingness; he would need to be careful that the others did not fall as they landed and go over the edge.

With a quick glance at the wizard, who nodded, he sprang over the blackness below, the distance causing him no bother at all. As he landed however he felt the pain in his ankle triple in strength, the abruptness of it causing him to stumble. He felt his leg give out and he began to fall forward, the rocky path under his feet making it harder to keep his balance. Bringing his hands up, he managed to turn the fall into a roll and lucky ended up stopping just before the drop off at the side of the path.
Climbing slightly unsteady to his feet, he looked up to see the others on the other side of the chasm looking at him disbelievingly.

There was a slight pause before Aragorn asked "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine" replied Legolas shortly. "Come we cannot linger too long" He hoped that the Ranger would not ask any more of his health for he knew that there was no point in discussing it, for again nothing could be done at the moment.

Aragorn looked as if once more he was going to speak, but then shook his head and said "Legolas' right, we must make haste. Come Boromir, would you go next?"

The man looked between Aragorn and Legolas for a brief moment before taking a running jump across the gap. Legolas steadied him as he landed then they both turned to help the hobbits.
Frodo and Merry both managed to cross without help, each taking the same method as the Gondorian with a running jump. Sam decided that he would not be able to make the jump so allowed Aragorn to toss him across into the waiting arms of Boromir. Pippin was hesitant, he wanted to jump like Merry and Frodo but he was very afraid.

"Come, Pippin. You and I can cross together" said Aragorn "Would that be easier for you?"

"Oh yes" said Pippin "If you do not mind, I so do want to jump but I am afraid of falling"

"I will not let you fall" promised Aragorn as he took the hobbit's hand. Then together they jumped, Aragorn lifting Pippin up with his hand so that he would make it to the other side. In fact they made it to the other side by quite some distance and nearly knocked both Legolas and Boromir to the ground.

While the others were preoccupied with regaining their balance, Gimli had made the jump, using his powerful legs to propel himself to the other side of the gap. This left just Gandalf alone, but in no time he too had joined the others.

"How much longer until we can stop?" asked Pippin, he was nervously looking at the elf who he could see was holding up his foot was ever so slightly. He didn't want to bring up the reason for his asking but he could already see that Aragorn was also looking at the company's elf with concern.
"Not much longer" replied the wizard as he took a quick look at the entire group, pausing momentarily on Legolas, before turning to continue down the passageway.

The others began to follow, each taking the position they were in before they came to the chasm across the path. Legolas and Aragon exchanged a glance before the elf turned to follow the others. He knew that he was limping quite badly now and that Ranger would be able to tell, but he could do nothing about that so he just concentrated on walking and continued to ignore the pain.

Lucky it was only an hour later that Gandalf called a halt. He had found a small room off the main path that would be an ideal stopping point. He watched as the hobbits quickly removed their packs and began preparing a meal.

"No fire" he said to them "It will have to be a cold meal". They nodded in reply, not complaining. The wizard smiled, the hobbits had certainly changed since they had set out on their journey, and previously there would have been at least a small complaint from one of the hobbits. Now they only rarely asked for a second breakfast and never a supper.

His musing was interrupted by an argument from the other side of the small room. Looking about he saw Aragorn approaching Legolas, who was lightly leaning against the entrance to the room. This should be interesting, he thought to himself.

"Let me look at it" Aragorn was saying.

"Its fine" replied the elf moving to slide away from the Ranger's hands.

Gandalf chuckled slightly as even as the prince said those words, he had hopped to the side holding his foot up.

"Legolas!" Aragorn almost yelled in frustration "I can see that it is causing you pain. Just let me look at it"

Gimli and Boromir were watching the scene in confusion; Gandalf guessed that they had not known the two long enough to know that this argument was something that almost always occurred each time that either the Ranger or the Prince was hurt. He wasn't sure when the habit had first began but the argument was a reoccurring theme. He wondered what it would take to end it.

"It will be fine" Legolas repeated glancing at Ranger, a small smirk playing on his lips.

The Rangers eyes narrowed knowing that he was being played, then he said "If you don't let me look at your leg, I will tell the hobbits about the time you fell in the pond, after falling from that tree"

The elf looked shocked, "You wouldn't" he said aghast.

The Ranger just raised his eyebrows in reply.

"Fine" Legolas said in defeat, almost throwing himself to the ground. He grimaced as his foot knocked against a rock.

The smile vanished from the wizards face; he hoped that the elf's injury wouldn't prove too serious. They could not afford to have the elf injured, especially not here in Moria. They would need his skills if they were to make it too the other side unharmed.

Directing his attention back to the two friends, he saw that Aragorn was currently removing the elf's light shoe. He moved closer and could see that the Ranger had had to unlace the entire boot before it could be removed. He suspected that the foot would have swelled badly but the elf show no sign of pain, apart from the slight quickening of his breathing.

Around them the rest of the fellowship had gathered, all interested in the health of the company's only elf. They watched as Aragorn finished removing the boot and carefully pulled up the elf's legging revealing his ankle.

Frodo gasped in surprise, he had expected that Legolas' leg would look bad and yes the elf's foot was swollen and bruised, but it wasn't that which had made the hobbit gasp out loud. What had, was the long wide scar that ran up from the elf's ankle to around his mid-calf. The skin around the scar was smooth, but the scar itself was pale and thin, as if stretched and pulled. He also noticed two more scars, these ones thin and short on either side of the ankle.

He looked up, taking in the surprised looks that had also appeared on his fellow hobbits faces, as well as on Gimli's and Boromir's.

"Legolas?" the ring bearer asked tentatively.

The Woodland Prince wasn't looking at the hobbit; he wasn't looking at any of them. Instead he was staring down at his foot, his eyes far away as if lost in memory.

Seeing that the elf was not going to answer, or at least not yet, Frodo looked upwards at Aragorn with a questioning look.

"Strider?" he asked, his voice hesitant. "I thought that elves couldn't get hurt or at least they healed fast, but his …" the hobbit trailed off not knowing how to continue his question without making it seem insensitive to Legolas. He knew that elves could heal fast from even wounds that would be fatal for men or hobbits but he had never known an elf that had such a scar, or any scar in fact at all.

Thinking back to the beginning of the fellowship's journey he realised that he had actually never before now seen the elf's legs bare. Legolas would either always have his shoes on, or when they had bathed he was always seemed to just appear in to water without the others seeing. At the time he had thought that that was just a typical elvish behaviour but now he realised that maybe Legolas had not wanted the others to see the scars.

Strider, he saw, was currently running his hands down the elf's swollen foot, Frodo knew that he was checking for breaks or fractures, but at his question the man had looked up briefly at the elf, before turning his attention to the others. "Elves can be injured and hurt just like everyone else, but they have the ability to heal quicker and survive injuries that would have been deadly to men. However in very rare cases if an elf has multiple injuries, that are life-threatening even to an elf, then it can be that a wound does not heal correctly"

There was silence for a moment after the Ranger had finished then the ring bearer heard a quiet voice.

"It was a long time ago" the elf said, now looking up at the others, his face show little emotion but Frodo saw deep in the elf's eyes a flash of sadness and pain.
"It is not too badly damaged. Nothing like it was then. It will heal fine" said Aragorn trying to reassure the elf. He along with Gandalf were the only two members of the fellowship who knew of how Legolas had come to bear the scars. He knew that his friend did not like to talk about that time.

Looking at the wizard, he saw a brief look of concern appear before it vanished and the wizard turned to the others, saying "Come now, lets' get a meal underway and leave Legolas in the capable hands of our healer". Aragorn nodded his head in thanks, knowing that it would be best to treat Legolas without the watchful eyes of the company.

He watched the others move off reluctantly, each wanting to know why the elf carried such terrible scars. Thankfully none had questioned the wizard's order and soon Legolas and Aragorn were left alone.

Looking back at his friend, the ranger saw the elf was looking at him with a slight smile. "Thank you" the elf said simply.

Aragorn returned the smile in reply and turned his attention to his friend's ankle "It seems to be only badly sprained. I can feel no breaks or fractures. How badly does it hurt?" he asked.

"It was quite painful while we were walking but now that I am off it, it feels a lot better" Legolas replied truthfully.

"I will wrap it for now and if you rest during this stop, then hopefully it would have improved somewhat before we need to start our march again" Aragorn replied.

Legolas looked around the small dark room in which they were gathered. There was no light apart from Mithrandir's staff which only lighted a small portion of the room. "I will find no sleep here or anywhere while we are in this darkness". Ever since he had entered Moria, Legolas had felt a heavy weight upon him, a nagging feeling of evil and despair. He did not like this place and it made him nervous and agitated. Having an injury did not help the matter in the slightest.

"You don't have to sleep to rest, through it would help if you did" the Ranger replied, his voice understanding for he knew of the elf's fear of being trapped in darkness away from the sounds of nature and the light of the stars above. "But just resting your leg and not using it will definitely help"

"Why don't you tell the others of what happen those many years ago" the Ranger continued as he began to wrap the elf's leg. "It will help you keep your mind of being stuck in here as well as from the pain of your leg"

"I do not like talking of that time" Legolas protested, if a little reluctantly for he knew that the others would be wanting to hear his story. He felt slightly guilty for keeping his scars hidden from the company for so long. It was a habit that he found hard to break as in the Elvish world scars were only a concern of the secondborn, not those of the first. Many times other elves had looked at his scars with a mix of horror and disgust, it wasn't usually directed at Legolas' himself but he still did not like that his scars drew the attention of others. So when he had started out with the fellowship he had continued to hide them away.

"They want to know" the Ranger said simply "and they will not treat you any differently now or after you have told them, all of them look at you as if you are some magical being" he finished with a chuckle.

"What, even the dwarf?" Legolas said as small smile appearing on his face, he knew of the hobbits fascination with him and his kind, but he did not think it was quite that of which the ranger had described.

"Will you tell them?" Aragorn asked once more as he finished trying off the bandage that was now wrap snugly around the elf's ankle.

"You're not going to stop asking until I do, are you?" Legolas replied weary, "Why do you want me to tell them?" he asked.

"Because so far on this journey you haven't told any of them much about yourself, you are either scouting ahead of the company or are rear guard at the back"

"I have told them many things" he protested "I sing nearly every evening and I do join in the conservation around the fire as well"

"Yes, you sing," Aragorn replied "but you sing of elves and the history of Middle Earth, not about yourself, and if you do tell them something it's usually during the time when I was growing up so mostly involved me as well. This story is about you alone and I think it will help some of them understand who you are more"

"Do they not already?" he asked in concern, wondering if he had missed some sign. He had to admit that the mortals, both the hobbits and men, did puzzle him sometimes and only now did it occur to him that maybe he too was a puzzle to the others.

"You can be quite stand offish at times" the Ranger confessed "and I think to the others it seems as if you are in a world of your own. They don't see the world as you do, or hear its song"

"I had not realised" Legolas said, his mind searching for times when he may have mystified the others in the fellowship. He had to admit that the Ranger may be right; he did at times distance himself from the rest. "Do you think telling them my story may help?"

"Yes!" the ranger said rather strongly.

Legolas grinned at his exasperated friend. "Alright, I will tell them" he said, with only a slight bit of reluctance. "I guess that they have the right to know, plus I'm sure the hobbits will be bound to ask at some point. They won't be able to help themselves"

"At least it seems that hobbits are easier to understand than elves" Aragorn said with a laugh in reply. "Here lean on me" he said as he helped the elf to his feet. Together they made their way back to the company who were now sitting in a misshapen circle around the centre of the room. All were in the middle of eating a meal of bread and cheese.

The Ranger helped the elf to sit down upon a flat rock, before taking a handful of food that Sam held up towards them.

"Thank you" he said to the hobbit before handing half of the food over to the elf. "Eat" he ordered, knowing that the elf was likely to protest.

"I'm not …" the elf started to say.

"Eat!" he ordered once more, cutting off Legolas' words. He watched his friend roll his eyes briefly in response, and then the elf began to eat. Choosing a rock of his own, he sat down and joined the rest of the company in a quiet compilation as they finished their meal.

"Will you be okay?" asked Merry to Legolas once he had finished eating.

"My foot is badly sprained, but it will mend quickly. It shouldn't cause me too much more trouble" Legolas replied. He could see the question in the young hobbits eyes.

"Would you like to know why my leg is the way it is?" he asked "Why is has not healed as it should have?"

"Yes" came four replies as all the hobbits spoke at once. Legolas smiled as a blush came upon the cheeks of the hobbits as they each realised that they had answered rather a little hurriedly. It was obvious that they had been thinking of his scars since when they first saw them and that they really wanted to know what had happened to him.

Looking towards were Boromir and Gimli sat he noticed they too were watching with interest, Mithrandir was leaning against a rock smoking his pipe, his eyes half closed, but the elf knew he too was listening intently. Aragorn gave him an encouraging smile from his seat nearby.
Legolas took in a small breath, the he began. "This happened a long time ago while I was on my first patrol …"