Disclaimer: Nothing that is familiar as either Tolkien's or Cassie and
Sio's is mine. _____________________________________________________
Chapter 1
Night had fallen deep over the plains of the Rohirrim, giving at least the semblance of peace to an area that had been riffed with war merely twelve hours ago. The dead had been tended to, funeral songs had been sung with much weeping, and now the warriors were resting, preparing for the next day's march to Isengard.
In the midst of the great citadel of Helm's Deep, in a room far removed from the main traffic of the halls, stayed a Man, a Dwarf and an Elf.
The Man, known to many now as Aragorn son of Arathorn, Heir of Isildur, slept on one of the two beds, stretched out on his stomach, snoring softly. His re-forged sword rested against the bed close to his head, and although he seemed to be dead to the world, any who knew him knew he would be awake and clear-headed enough to fight if danger threatened.
In the other bed slept the Dwarf, Gimli son of Gloin. He was stretched out on his back, looking for all the world like an up-ended turtle. His axe was on the bed beside him, ready to be snatched up at a moment's notice. His snores rattled the windowpanes, making any who heard wonder how his friends got any sleep, to which the other two occupants of the room would simply reply that they had grown accustomed to the racket.
In the chair that came with the room sat the Elf, Legolas Greenleaf son of King Thranduil of Mirkwood, his legs propped up on the windowsill and the chair leaned back slightly under him. Any who did not know him would swear he slept, for his wide-open eyes were slightly glazed over. Had Aragorn been awake, however, he would have been the first to know that the Elf was not sleeping, only thinking.
He would have been right. The Elf's cobalt blue eyes, though they were cast over with a dreamy haze, were dreamy with thoughts, not with real sleep.
Looking at the Man, sleeping so soundly and peacefully, Legolas could hardly believe to look at him that they had just come through a battle for their lives. Aragorn looked as peaceful as he had sleeping safely in Legolas' guest chambers with no other worries than trying to keep up with the Elf all day.
'Mayhap it is a defense reaction,' mused the Elf. 'Mayhap he forces himself to sleep in some semblance of peace so he does not have to think.'
That reminded him of another time; a time filled not with open war, but with little skirmishes and where private adventures occupied the Prince and the ranger, not the Quest of the Ring. This time seemed to be both so long ago, far removed from the wars and pain of the present time, and unbearably close, full of memories both painful and pleasant.
Looking out the window with eyes that were suddenly hard with the remembered pain, Legolas noted the position of the stars...and smiled slightly. They were arranged just as they had been sixty years ago, when an Elf Prince and a human ranger had camped merrily under them with only joy and peace in their hearts.
Many, many adventures had the two gone through together, but this night, the Elf was reminded of a terrible choice set before them; one that should have resulted in the death of both friends...but was prevented by the intervention of a greater hand.
Aragorn woke slightly, looking at the Prince and out the window. Legolas heard the Man wake and looked at him with a look both comforting and firm, one that ordered the younger Man to get his needed sleep, but one that also reassured him that danger was far enough away to safely sleep--for now. It was such looks that aged Legolas' perpetually young face and reminded the human that the Elf was several thousand years older than him, instead of about twenty, as he always looked.
Rolling onto his side, facing the wall, the ranger obeyed the silent command and fell asleep again, his dreams going back to the time that Legolas was remembering, the time where life and death were literally separated by only a choice...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Estel, we must move on." Legolas' voice echoed in the ranger's mind. "It is not safe here."
Pain lanced through the ranger's heart as he looked up at the Prince. The Elf's eyes were filled with sympathy, but the sense of impending danger was also reflected in the blue depths.
Looking back at the mounded dirt, Aragorn's eyes closed in sorrow again. Too young...the boy had been too young. Why did this young Man, whom Aragorn had only just met, have to die so soon? He had only been 18...
Bending, the Elf grabbed his friend's shoulder. "Estel, we cannot linger here...unless you wish to join him under the ground."
Taking a shuddering breath, the ranger stood up, knuckling tears away from his eyes. "Then let us go, and quickly."
Snatching his bow from the ground, where he had let it fall after the battle that had left so many orcs dead on the field and in which the young Man had fallen, fighting valiantly, the Man followed Legolas away from the battlefield.
Legolas gripped Aragorn's arm in silent support as they ran for the woods. Evening was falling over the woods, bringing with it a sense of impending danger and foreboding that set the Elf on edge.
The friends were just outside the borders of the kingdom of Gondor, patrolling the borders and keeping orcs out as best as they could. Aragorn was doing so as a member of the Dunedain; Legolas was along for the practice and the time with his friend.
In the woods, Legolas' eyes looked everywhere at once; fear tensing his muscles and prodding him forward as fast as he could go. Aragorn sensed his friend's fear, and it scared him as well, as Legolas feared absolutely nothing or no one.
Pulling to a halt, the Elf listened hard. His lips pursed and he readied an arrow.
"What is it?" Aragorn barely breathed, his hand moving to his sword. Straining, he sent his senses as far as he could, but could not find the source of the disturbance that troubled the Elf's heart.
"I do not know...and that troubles me." Legolas' voice was naught but a whisper, no higher than a wisp of wind, but Aragorn, standing right behind his friend, heard it plainly.
Before either could speak another word, the ground opened beneath them, swallowing them before either could do more than shout their surprise. Dirt surrounded them, covered their faces, and choked them as it filled their open mouths. At last, they hit bottom with a painful thud.
Once the dust had settled, Legolas looked frantically for Aragorn, calling the human's name after spitting out the dirt that had lodged in his mouth. A dull pain raced up the Elf's left leg as he walked toward the mound of dirt, and he winced, but kept walking, obviously favoring that leg.
"Aragorn?" he called again, straining his Elven senses. A moan reached his ears and he ran for the source of it. The Man lay on the ground, half buried in dirt and his face twisted with pain. Legolas dropped to his knees by the Man and began quickly digging Aragorn out, murmuring soothing words the whole time.
Aragorn helped as much as he could, and in moments, he was free and sitting on the pile of dirt, examining his legs as quickly as he could in the dark.
Legolas stood up and scanned the immediate area, trying to figure out what exactly had just happened...and whether or not it was deliberate.
As his eyes adjusted to the faint lighting, he realized that this cavern they had fallen into was carved, not natural. It also was a cave, a small fact Legolas had over-looked in his worry for his friend. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his breathing picked up about three notches.
Aragorn heard the Elf's heightened breathing and looked at his friend. In the gloom, Legolas' natural light seemed to blaze, and in that extra light, Aragorn could plainly see the Elf's wide eyes and the sweat beading on his forehead. He got up with a tiny wince and walked to where his friend stood, staring around.
"Legolas," he murmured. Even the soft murmur of the Man's voice seemed to echo unbearably in the closed-in space, and the addressed Elf flinched. "Legolas, you must remain calm. Otherwise, we have no chance."
Legolas closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to still his racing heart and control his breathing. When he opened his eyes again, he was marginally calmer. At least his breathing was more controlled.
"We should look around a bit," the Elf finally said, his tone trembling with the need to see natural light, soon. "Perhaps we can find a way out."
Aragorn nodded his agreement and rested his hand on Legolas' shoulder. The Elf still felt as tense as his bowstring, but he seemed to gain strength from his friend's presence and physical contact.
As far as Aragorn could tell, they explored the chamber they had landed in for an hour or so. The passage they had been dumped through had closed up again, leaving only the smallest trace of natural light from that source. They had tried splitting up to explore, but Aragorn had found he couldn't see without Legolas' light, and beyond that, the Elf seemed much better with the dark when his friend was beside him.
At the end of the hour, they had found that this chamber had only one other exit...and it was sealed shut. Not even the Elf's considerable strength could open it. All they could do was wait until who- or whatever had created this trap came back. Until then, they sat on the pile of dirt.
Aragorn knew better than to fall asleep, as leaving Legolas alone with his fears would be a horribly bad idea. Instead he leaned against the wall, his knees pulled up to his chest, and asked quietly, "Do you remember the winter I stayed with you, and the ambush Raniean and Trelan tricked us into?"
A soft chuckle sounded from Legolas. The Elf sat with his back to the wall beside the human and his eyes closed, trying to block out the awful dark. "Yes, I remember," replied Legolas, "and I seem to recall that they creamed you."
"I could have gotten away if you had made the snowballs you were supposed to," retorted the human with a broad grin, "instead of howling with laughter like a taerg."
"If you could have seen your face," smiled the Elf Prince, "when Trelan caught you in the face with that snowball..." He opened his eyes and tensed as the darkness closed in on him.
Aragorn saw the tension and fear take his friend over again and scooted closer to him. The Elf glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes as the human got closer.
Resting an arm around Legolas' shoulder, Aragorn pulled the Elf close. "Close your eyes," he ordered, "and remember the ambush."
Legolas closed his eyes and rested his forehead against Aragorn's shoulder. Breathing deeply, he collected himself, and Aragorn felt the Elf relax against him.
The silence lasted for a few comfortable moments, the friends breathing in unison.
The rumble of gears broke the peace and Legolas' eyes flew open as the friends jumped to their feet. As the door finished opening, at least twenty Men, all armed to the teeth, covered the door as a small Man entered and smirked up at the friends.
"What a touching scene," he remarked, crossing his arms.
Legolas set an arrow to his bow, glaring at the little Man with fire in his eyes, but Aragorn gently put a hand on his shoulder, telling him without words to wait. Legolas looked over his shoulder at his friend, tension showing plainly in his blue eyes, but he trusted the judgment of his friend. His motions jerky, the Elf replaced the arrow and waited, his bow held loosely at his side.
The little Man puffed up a bit, obviously reassured that the Elf was seemingly cooperating. "Men, chain them up, and mind that Elf."
Legolas panicked momentarily as the men came for him with thick chains over their hands. He backed away until his back hit a wall, his hands clenched into fists.
"Legolas!" Aragorn's voice resonated through the room from where he stood, taking the chains fairly peaceably. "Anno estel enni!" Trust me!
Legolas' eyes shuttled to his friend nervously as he considered his options. At last, he sighed and bowed his head slightly. Holding out his hands, he said quietly, "Im estel le." I trust you. The men caught the slight defeat in his posture and his tone, though they couldn't understand the words, and surged forward. Aragorn momentarily lost sight of his friend's golden head in the swarm of dark-haired men, and his ears were assailed with the sounds of rattling chains and soft hisses. At first, the grey-eyed Man thought that the hisses were hisses of pain from either Legolas or the men, but when they pulled away from Legolas, Aragorn saw the true source of the hisses in Legolas' wide, terrified eyes.
Legolas' quiver was ripped viciously from his shoulders and his bow was confiscated. Aragorn's sword followed the same path, and Aragorn felt helpless without it.
As the friends were forced from the chamber, Aragorn pressed close to Legolas, bumping shoulders with the Prince. Legolas accepted the unspoken comfort and murmured in soft Elvish, "You had better come through, Strider."
Aragorn smiled. "When have I not?" he inquired softly, a tone of teasing underlying his words.
"Do you truly wish me to list the occasions?" asked the Elf Prince, an answering teasing note in his voice.
Aragorn didn't have a chance to answer as a sharp cuff landed on first his, then Legolas' ear. From the Prince's flinch, the blow was unnecessarily sharp for talking.
The group continued on in silence for a long moment until they reached an area where the sunlight flooded in uninhibited. Legolas came to a dead halt and breathed in deeply, closing his eyes against the bright light. The men yanked on his chains, but to no avail. Legolas had been in the dark far too long, and he wanted to relish the sun.
A fist smashed into the small of the Elf's back, and the Prince winced but still refused to move. His chained hands grabbed the edge of the wall, bracing himself as the men yanked on his already raw wrists, trying to force the Elf to move.
"Come on, you bleedin' Elf!" snapped one of the men in a rough, lower city accent. "Don't make me get rough with you..."
"Legolas..." Aragorn's voice was worried.
Legolas responded to the worry in his friend's tone. Looking at the ranger, the Elf saw rank fear in his friend's eyes. The Elf's eyes narrowed. Aragorn only looked that scared when...
Legolas turned slightly, just in time to catch a swung chain across his midsection. The air fled from his lungs with a loud whoosh as the slight Elf staggered backwards. The burly Man behind the Elf grinned at the response and raised the chain to do it again.
This blow caught the Elf across the rib cage and flung him across the area, flinging him against Aragorn. The human had seen that coming and was braced to catch his flying friend. Wrapping his arms around Legolas, Aragorn spun in time to catch the next blow aimed at Legolas on his own back. A soft hiss escaped him as the links dug together, pinching his skin viciously.
Legolas figured out what his friend was doing an instant later and tried to struggle free of the human's grip, but Aragorn was having none of it. The chain connecting Aragorn's hands together dug into Legolas' back as the human spun again, putting himself back in the path of the swinging chain. His gasp of pain was muffled as he buried his face in Legolas' blonde hair, but the Elf heard it clearly.
Fighting free of his friend, the Elf held up his chained hands in a gesture of supplication. "I-I will come." His voice was very, very soft, but everyone in the chamber heard it.
The burly Man looked disappointed, but the tiny Man looked relieved. "Then keep walking, you bedamned Elf," growled the burly Man, shoving Legolas hard.
The Elf stumbled, but caught himself before he actually fell and started walking away from the sunlight. His heart screamed at having to leave the light behind, but he pressed forward, his lips pursed in an expression very much like his father's.
Aragorn was close on his friend's heels and soon caught up with him. No word was exchanged, but they both understood how the other felt.
The group traveled in silence down and down and down, until Legolas felt he must be in the center of the earth. He was trembling, though he didn't realize it.
Several of the guards began picking on Legolas, pushing him around and taunting his fear in their coarse language. Legolas bore it better than Aragorn might have expected, given how afraid he was.
With a start, Aragorn recognized the coarse language that their kidnappers were speaking. It was the language of the Corsairs of Umbar, and at that realization, his heart sank straight to his toes. It was only recently that he had finished his stint as Thorongil, Captain of Gondor, and he had led an attack on the Umbar encampment before they could attack Gondor. With a chill that ran up his spine to the base of his neck, he realized that Legolas was being put through all this underground travel because of him.
Legolas was growing tenser and tenser the deeper they went, and the men's coarse jesting did not help at all. At last, they crossed the line by grabbing at his unique pointed ears.
With a wince born of both anger and pain, the Elf casually shoulder-checked the people closest to him, throwing them into the people behind them.
Aragorn quickly used the distraction to move close to Legolas' side and urge him onward. Once the men had recovered, they charged after Legolas with angry shouts, but Aragorn blocked their advances easily, and the tiny Man called them off after the first few failed attempts.
As they kept going, Legolas nudged against Aragorn's side. When the ranger looked at the Elf, Legolas mouthed, "Hannon le." Thank you.
Aragorn just nodded, acknowledging the silent thanks.
At last, they reached a point where they weren't going down anymore, much to Legolas' not-so-private relief, and began walking down corridors of rooms. Men poured out of the rooms to greet the hunters and jeer the prisoners.
Using the loudness about them as a shield, Legolas asked quietly, "Do they actually live down here?" Disbelief was rank in his voice.
Aragorn nodded and, leaning close to his friend, he said in a barely audible voice, "They have nowhere else to live. We have driven them out of the lands they tried to inhabit in Gondor."
Legolas shuddered. "I cannot think how they survive it," he murmured quietly as the group turned a corner.
Aragorn nodded his agreement whole-heartedly.
The area about them changed subtly, as best as Aragorn could see in Legolas' light. The doorways into rooms changed from simple latches on a piece of wood to heavily barred stone slabs. Aragorn realized that they had moved from the habitable areas into the prison areas, and he gritted his teeth.
Ahead of them, a door yawned open, and the leader sneered, "Welcome to your new home, Captain of Gondor." With that, both the Elf and the Man were thrown into the same cell, Aragorn first. Legolas caught himself against the wall before he actually hit the floor, but Aragorn landed on the floor with a bruising crash.
The door slammed shut with an echoing slam, leaving the friends in the dark save for the natural light that glowed from Legolas' skin. A very soft whimper escaped Legolas' lips as he slid down the wall to the floor, hugging his knees.
Aragorn picked himself up from the ground painfully and went to where his friend huddled. Carefully, he put his hand on the quivering, slender shoulder. Legolas flinched at the touch, and Aragorn retreated, hurt.
Legolas looked up at his friend. In the faint light, apology was evident in his blue eyes. "I am sorry," he whispered. "It is not you, I swear it."
Aragorn nodded and settled himself beside his friend. A long moment passed in silence before Aragorn said quietly, "This is my fault."
Legolas actually managed to laugh. "Do not start the blaming cycle again, Estel. It will get you nowhere."
"No, Legolas, I mean it," The ranger looked at his friend, guilt written on every line of his tired face. "You would not be in this situation if it were not for me."
Legolas looked at his friend, concern lining his face. "What do you mean, Estel?" he asked quietly.
"These men are Corsair men." Aragorn said that as if that was the only explanation needed.
"And..." Legolas prompted when the Man stopped talking.
Aragorn looked at his friend incredulously. "They are doing this because I am Thorongil, the Man who led the attack on their attempted take-over! They only took you too because you were with me."
Legolas thought about that for a moment. "This still is not your fault, Strider," he said quietly. "They are fueled by revenge and anger. You do not control their actions; only your own."
With a sigh, Aragorn just shook his head. He knew Legolas was right, but he hated the fact that Legolas was being forced to live in his worst nightmare because of the human.
Legolas let it go for now. Aragorn would have to face the truth eventually, but Legolas couldn't force it on him.
The friends sat in silence for a time before Legolas got up. Aragorn followed the glowing figure with his eyes as the Elf explored the small cell. There wasn't much to it, just four walls and a stack of hay in the far corner. Legolas stopped there and called to Aragorn, "Estel, come here."
Estel pulled himself to his feet and walked to where the Elf Prince stood, waiting for him. Taking the human's arm, Legolas steered him into a relaxed position on the straw, belly down. "You need your sleep, human," he said with a quiet grin. "I will keep watch for a time."
"Are you sure?" yawned the human, resting his head on his crossed arms sleepily.
"Yes, I am sure. Sleep." Legolas' voice was so compelling that the human fell asleep without any further argument.
Legolas watched the sleeping human idly as he rested the back of his head against the wall behind him. Contrary to his waking face, Estel looked as peaceful as a little child when he slept, and Legolas laughed softly at the reminder that the human was much younger than he looked.
The hours of the night ticked slowly by, marked by Legolas' trailing thoughts and Aragorn's steady breathing.
(A/N: Like it? Hate it? Want more? Send reviews to feed the hungry review monster!)
Sio's is mine. _____________________________________________________
Chapter 1
Night had fallen deep over the plains of the Rohirrim, giving at least the semblance of peace to an area that had been riffed with war merely twelve hours ago. The dead had been tended to, funeral songs had been sung with much weeping, and now the warriors were resting, preparing for the next day's march to Isengard.
In the midst of the great citadel of Helm's Deep, in a room far removed from the main traffic of the halls, stayed a Man, a Dwarf and an Elf.
The Man, known to many now as Aragorn son of Arathorn, Heir of Isildur, slept on one of the two beds, stretched out on his stomach, snoring softly. His re-forged sword rested against the bed close to his head, and although he seemed to be dead to the world, any who knew him knew he would be awake and clear-headed enough to fight if danger threatened.
In the other bed slept the Dwarf, Gimli son of Gloin. He was stretched out on his back, looking for all the world like an up-ended turtle. His axe was on the bed beside him, ready to be snatched up at a moment's notice. His snores rattled the windowpanes, making any who heard wonder how his friends got any sleep, to which the other two occupants of the room would simply reply that they had grown accustomed to the racket.
In the chair that came with the room sat the Elf, Legolas Greenleaf son of King Thranduil of Mirkwood, his legs propped up on the windowsill and the chair leaned back slightly under him. Any who did not know him would swear he slept, for his wide-open eyes were slightly glazed over. Had Aragorn been awake, however, he would have been the first to know that the Elf was not sleeping, only thinking.
He would have been right. The Elf's cobalt blue eyes, though they were cast over with a dreamy haze, were dreamy with thoughts, not with real sleep.
Looking at the Man, sleeping so soundly and peacefully, Legolas could hardly believe to look at him that they had just come through a battle for their lives. Aragorn looked as peaceful as he had sleeping safely in Legolas' guest chambers with no other worries than trying to keep up with the Elf all day.
'Mayhap it is a defense reaction,' mused the Elf. 'Mayhap he forces himself to sleep in some semblance of peace so he does not have to think.'
That reminded him of another time; a time filled not with open war, but with little skirmishes and where private adventures occupied the Prince and the ranger, not the Quest of the Ring. This time seemed to be both so long ago, far removed from the wars and pain of the present time, and unbearably close, full of memories both painful and pleasant.
Looking out the window with eyes that were suddenly hard with the remembered pain, Legolas noted the position of the stars...and smiled slightly. They were arranged just as they had been sixty years ago, when an Elf Prince and a human ranger had camped merrily under them with only joy and peace in their hearts.
Many, many adventures had the two gone through together, but this night, the Elf was reminded of a terrible choice set before them; one that should have resulted in the death of both friends...but was prevented by the intervention of a greater hand.
Aragorn woke slightly, looking at the Prince and out the window. Legolas heard the Man wake and looked at him with a look both comforting and firm, one that ordered the younger Man to get his needed sleep, but one that also reassured him that danger was far enough away to safely sleep--for now. It was such looks that aged Legolas' perpetually young face and reminded the human that the Elf was several thousand years older than him, instead of about twenty, as he always looked.
Rolling onto his side, facing the wall, the ranger obeyed the silent command and fell asleep again, his dreams going back to the time that Legolas was remembering, the time where life and death were literally separated by only a choice...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Estel, we must move on." Legolas' voice echoed in the ranger's mind. "It is not safe here."
Pain lanced through the ranger's heart as he looked up at the Prince. The Elf's eyes were filled with sympathy, but the sense of impending danger was also reflected in the blue depths.
Looking back at the mounded dirt, Aragorn's eyes closed in sorrow again. Too young...the boy had been too young. Why did this young Man, whom Aragorn had only just met, have to die so soon? He had only been 18...
Bending, the Elf grabbed his friend's shoulder. "Estel, we cannot linger here...unless you wish to join him under the ground."
Taking a shuddering breath, the ranger stood up, knuckling tears away from his eyes. "Then let us go, and quickly."
Snatching his bow from the ground, where he had let it fall after the battle that had left so many orcs dead on the field and in which the young Man had fallen, fighting valiantly, the Man followed Legolas away from the battlefield.
Legolas gripped Aragorn's arm in silent support as they ran for the woods. Evening was falling over the woods, bringing with it a sense of impending danger and foreboding that set the Elf on edge.
The friends were just outside the borders of the kingdom of Gondor, patrolling the borders and keeping orcs out as best as they could. Aragorn was doing so as a member of the Dunedain; Legolas was along for the practice and the time with his friend.
In the woods, Legolas' eyes looked everywhere at once; fear tensing his muscles and prodding him forward as fast as he could go. Aragorn sensed his friend's fear, and it scared him as well, as Legolas feared absolutely nothing or no one.
Pulling to a halt, the Elf listened hard. His lips pursed and he readied an arrow.
"What is it?" Aragorn barely breathed, his hand moving to his sword. Straining, he sent his senses as far as he could, but could not find the source of the disturbance that troubled the Elf's heart.
"I do not know...and that troubles me." Legolas' voice was naught but a whisper, no higher than a wisp of wind, but Aragorn, standing right behind his friend, heard it plainly.
Before either could speak another word, the ground opened beneath them, swallowing them before either could do more than shout their surprise. Dirt surrounded them, covered their faces, and choked them as it filled their open mouths. At last, they hit bottom with a painful thud.
Once the dust had settled, Legolas looked frantically for Aragorn, calling the human's name after spitting out the dirt that had lodged in his mouth. A dull pain raced up the Elf's left leg as he walked toward the mound of dirt, and he winced, but kept walking, obviously favoring that leg.
"Aragorn?" he called again, straining his Elven senses. A moan reached his ears and he ran for the source of it. The Man lay on the ground, half buried in dirt and his face twisted with pain. Legolas dropped to his knees by the Man and began quickly digging Aragorn out, murmuring soothing words the whole time.
Aragorn helped as much as he could, and in moments, he was free and sitting on the pile of dirt, examining his legs as quickly as he could in the dark.
Legolas stood up and scanned the immediate area, trying to figure out what exactly had just happened...and whether or not it was deliberate.
As his eyes adjusted to the faint lighting, he realized that this cavern they had fallen into was carved, not natural. It also was a cave, a small fact Legolas had over-looked in his worry for his friend. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his breathing picked up about three notches.
Aragorn heard the Elf's heightened breathing and looked at his friend. In the gloom, Legolas' natural light seemed to blaze, and in that extra light, Aragorn could plainly see the Elf's wide eyes and the sweat beading on his forehead. He got up with a tiny wince and walked to where his friend stood, staring around.
"Legolas," he murmured. Even the soft murmur of the Man's voice seemed to echo unbearably in the closed-in space, and the addressed Elf flinched. "Legolas, you must remain calm. Otherwise, we have no chance."
Legolas closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to still his racing heart and control his breathing. When he opened his eyes again, he was marginally calmer. At least his breathing was more controlled.
"We should look around a bit," the Elf finally said, his tone trembling with the need to see natural light, soon. "Perhaps we can find a way out."
Aragorn nodded his agreement and rested his hand on Legolas' shoulder. The Elf still felt as tense as his bowstring, but he seemed to gain strength from his friend's presence and physical contact.
As far as Aragorn could tell, they explored the chamber they had landed in for an hour or so. The passage they had been dumped through had closed up again, leaving only the smallest trace of natural light from that source. They had tried splitting up to explore, but Aragorn had found he couldn't see without Legolas' light, and beyond that, the Elf seemed much better with the dark when his friend was beside him.
At the end of the hour, they had found that this chamber had only one other exit...and it was sealed shut. Not even the Elf's considerable strength could open it. All they could do was wait until who- or whatever had created this trap came back. Until then, they sat on the pile of dirt.
Aragorn knew better than to fall asleep, as leaving Legolas alone with his fears would be a horribly bad idea. Instead he leaned against the wall, his knees pulled up to his chest, and asked quietly, "Do you remember the winter I stayed with you, and the ambush Raniean and Trelan tricked us into?"
A soft chuckle sounded from Legolas. The Elf sat with his back to the wall beside the human and his eyes closed, trying to block out the awful dark. "Yes, I remember," replied Legolas, "and I seem to recall that they creamed you."
"I could have gotten away if you had made the snowballs you were supposed to," retorted the human with a broad grin, "instead of howling with laughter like a taerg."
"If you could have seen your face," smiled the Elf Prince, "when Trelan caught you in the face with that snowball..." He opened his eyes and tensed as the darkness closed in on him.
Aragorn saw the tension and fear take his friend over again and scooted closer to him. The Elf glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes as the human got closer.
Resting an arm around Legolas' shoulder, Aragorn pulled the Elf close. "Close your eyes," he ordered, "and remember the ambush."
Legolas closed his eyes and rested his forehead against Aragorn's shoulder. Breathing deeply, he collected himself, and Aragorn felt the Elf relax against him.
The silence lasted for a few comfortable moments, the friends breathing in unison.
The rumble of gears broke the peace and Legolas' eyes flew open as the friends jumped to their feet. As the door finished opening, at least twenty Men, all armed to the teeth, covered the door as a small Man entered and smirked up at the friends.
"What a touching scene," he remarked, crossing his arms.
Legolas set an arrow to his bow, glaring at the little Man with fire in his eyes, but Aragorn gently put a hand on his shoulder, telling him without words to wait. Legolas looked over his shoulder at his friend, tension showing plainly in his blue eyes, but he trusted the judgment of his friend. His motions jerky, the Elf replaced the arrow and waited, his bow held loosely at his side.
The little Man puffed up a bit, obviously reassured that the Elf was seemingly cooperating. "Men, chain them up, and mind that Elf."
Legolas panicked momentarily as the men came for him with thick chains over their hands. He backed away until his back hit a wall, his hands clenched into fists.
"Legolas!" Aragorn's voice resonated through the room from where he stood, taking the chains fairly peaceably. "Anno estel enni!" Trust me!
Legolas' eyes shuttled to his friend nervously as he considered his options. At last, he sighed and bowed his head slightly. Holding out his hands, he said quietly, "Im estel le." I trust you. The men caught the slight defeat in his posture and his tone, though they couldn't understand the words, and surged forward. Aragorn momentarily lost sight of his friend's golden head in the swarm of dark-haired men, and his ears were assailed with the sounds of rattling chains and soft hisses. At first, the grey-eyed Man thought that the hisses were hisses of pain from either Legolas or the men, but when they pulled away from Legolas, Aragorn saw the true source of the hisses in Legolas' wide, terrified eyes.
Legolas' quiver was ripped viciously from his shoulders and his bow was confiscated. Aragorn's sword followed the same path, and Aragorn felt helpless without it.
As the friends were forced from the chamber, Aragorn pressed close to Legolas, bumping shoulders with the Prince. Legolas accepted the unspoken comfort and murmured in soft Elvish, "You had better come through, Strider."
Aragorn smiled. "When have I not?" he inquired softly, a tone of teasing underlying his words.
"Do you truly wish me to list the occasions?" asked the Elf Prince, an answering teasing note in his voice.
Aragorn didn't have a chance to answer as a sharp cuff landed on first his, then Legolas' ear. From the Prince's flinch, the blow was unnecessarily sharp for talking.
The group continued on in silence for a long moment until they reached an area where the sunlight flooded in uninhibited. Legolas came to a dead halt and breathed in deeply, closing his eyes against the bright light. The men yanked on his chains, but to no avail. Legolas had been in the dark far too long, and he wanted to relish the sun.
A fist smashed into the small of the Elf's back, and the Prince winced but still refused to move. His chained hands grabbed the edge of the wall, bracing himself as the men yanked on his already raw wrists, trying to force the Elf to move.
"Come on, you bleedin' Elf!" snapped one of the men in a rough, lower city accent. "Don't make me get rough with you..."
"Legolas..." Aragorn's voice was worried.
Legolas responded to the worry in his friend's tone. Looking at the ranger, the Elf saw rank fear in his friend's eyes. The Elf's eyes narrowed. Aragorn only looked that scared when...
Legolas turned slightly, just in time to catch a swung chain across his midsection. The air fled from his lungs with a loud whoosh as the slight Elf staggered backwards. The burly Man behind the Elf grinned at the response and raised the chain to do it again.
This blow caught the Elf across the rib cage and flung him across the area, flinging him against Aragorn. The human had seen that coming and was braced to catch his flying friend. Wrapping his arms around Legolas, Aragorn spun in time to catch the next blow aimed at Legolas on his own back. A soft hiss escaped him as the links dug together, pinching his skin viciously.
Legolas figured out what his friend was doing an instant later and tried to struggle free of the human's grip, but Aragorn was having none of it. The chain connecting Aragorn's hands together dug into Legolas' back as the human spun again, putting himself back in the path of the swinging chain. His gasp of pain was muffled as he buried his face in Legolas' blonde hair, but the Elf heard it clearly.
Fighting free of his friend, the Elf held up his chained hands in a gesture of supplication. "I-I will come." His voice was very, very soft, but everyone in the chamber heard it.
The burly Man looked disappointed, but the tiny Man looked relieved. "Then keep walking, you bedamned Elf," growled the burly Man, shoving Legolas hard.
The Elf stumbled, but caught himself before he actually fell and started walking away from the sunlight. His heart screamed at having to leave the light behind, but he pressed forward, his lips pursed in an expression very much like his father's.
Aragorn was close on his friend's heels and soon caught up with him. No word was exchanged, but they both understood how the other felt.
The group traveled in silence down and down and down, until Legolas felt he must be in the center of the earth. He was trembling, though he didn't realize it.
Several of the guards began picking on Legolas, pushing him around and taunting his fear in their coarse language. Legolas bore it better than Aragorn might have expected, given how afraid he was.
With a start, Aragorn recognized the coarse language that their kidnappers were speaking. It was the language of the Corsairs of Umbar, and at that realization, his heart sank straight to his toes. It was only recently that he had finished his stint as Thorongil, Captain of Gondor, and he had led an attack on the Umbar encampment before they could attack Gondor. With a chill that ran up his spine to the base of his neck, he realized that Legolas was being put through all this underground travel because of him.
Legolas was growing tenser and tenser the deeper they went, and the men's coarse jesting did not help at all. At last, they crossed the line by grabbing at his unique pointed ears.
With a wince born of both anger and pain, the Elf casually shoulder-checked the people closest to him, throwing them into the people behind them.
Aragorn quickly used the distraction to move close to Legolas' side and urge him onward. Once the men had recovered, they charged after Legolas with angry shouts, but Aragorn blocked their advances easily, and the tiny Man called them off after the first few failed attempts.
As they kept going, Legolas nudged against Aragorn's side. When the ranger looked at the Elf, Legolas mouthed, "Hannon le." Thank you.
Aragorn just nodded, acknowledging the silent thanks.
At last, they reached a point where they weren't going down anymore, much to Legolas' not-so-private relief, and began walking down corridors of rooms. Men poured out of the rooms to greet the hunters and jeer the prisoners.
Using the loudness about them as a shield, Legolas asked quietly, "Do they actually live down here?" Disbelief was rank in his voice.
Aragorn nodded and, leaning close to his friend, he said in a barely audible voice, "They have nowhere else to live. We have driven them out of the lands they tried to inhabit in Gondor."
Legolas shuddered. "I cannot think how they survive it," he murmured quietly as the group turned a corner.
Aragorn nodded his agreement whole-heartedly.
The area about them changed subtly, as best as Aragorn could see in Legolas' light. The doorways into rooms changed from simple latches on a piece of wood to heavily barred stone slabs. Aragorn realized that they had moved from the habitable areas into the prison areas, and he gritted his teeth.
Ahead of them, a door yawned open, and the leader sneered, "Welcome to your new home, Captain of Gondor." With that, both the Elf and the Man were thrown into the same cell, Aragorn first. Legolas caught himself against the wall before he actually hit the floor, but Aragorn landed on the floor with a bruising crash.
The door slammed shut with an echoing slam, leaving the friends in the dark save for the natural light that glowed from Legolas' skin. A very soft whimper escaped Legolas' lips as he slid down the wall to the floor, hugging his knees.
Aragorn picked himself up from the ground painfully and went to where his friend huddled. Carefully, he put his hand on the quivering, slender shoulder. Legolas flinched at the touch, and Aragorn retreated, hurt.
Legolas looked up at his friend. In the faint light, apology was evident in his blue eyes. "I am sorry," he whispered. "It is not you, I swear it."
Aragorn nodded and settled himself beside his friend. A long moment passed in silence before Aragorn said quietly, "This is my fault."
Legolas actually managed to laugh. "Do not start the blaming cycle again, Estel. It will get you nowhere."
"No, Legolas, I mean it," The ranger looked at his friend, guilt written on every line of his tired face. "You would not be in this situation if it were not for me."
Legolas looked at his friend, concern lining his face. "What do you mean, Estel?" he asked quietly.
"These men are Corsair men." Aragorn said that as if that was the only explanation needed.
"And..." Legolas prompted when the Man stopped talking.
Aragorn looked at his friend incredulously. "They are doing this because I am Thorongil, the Man who led the attack on their attempted take-over! They only took you too because you were with me."
Legolas thought about that for a moment. "This still is not your fault, Strider," he said quietly. "They are fueled by revenge and anger. You do not control their actions; only your own."
With a sigh, Aragorn just shook his head. He knew Legolas was right, but he hated the fact that Legolas was being forced to live in his worst nightmare because of the human.
Legolas let it go for now. Aragorn would have to face the truth eventually, but Legolas couldn't force it on him.
The friends sat in silence for a time before Legolas got up. Aragorn followed the glowing figure with his eyes as the Elf explored the small cell. There wasn't much to it, just four walls and a stack of hay in the far corner. Legolas stopped there and called to Aragorn, "Estel, come here."
Estel pulled himself to his feet and walked to where the Elf Prince stood, waiting for him. Taking the human's arm, Legolas steered him into a relaxed position on the straw, belly down. "You need your sleep, human," he said with a quiet grin. "I will keep watch for a time."
"Are you sure?" yawned the human, resting his head on his crossed arms sleepily.
"Yes, I am sure. Sleep." Legolas' voice was so compelling that the human fell asleep without any further argument.
Legolas watched the sleeping human idly as he rested the back of his head against the wall behind him. Contrary to his waking face, Estel looked as peaceful as a little child when he slept, and Legolas laughed softly at the reminder that the human was much younger than he looked.
The hours of the night ticked slowly by, marked by Legolas' trailing thoughts and Aragorn's steady breathing.
(A/N: Like it? Hate it? Want more? Send reviews to feed the hungry review monster!)