Rating:
PG-13, for violence and tense situations

Spoilers:
Captive of Darkness, First Meetings, Change of Heart

Disclaimer:
We own nothing of Middle Earth or any of Tolkien’s worlds or characters. Everything recognizable belongs to JRR Tolkien, anything else belongs to us. We have no permission to use these characters and are receiving no money for this story. This story was written for enjoyment only.

Summary:
When Aragorn is accused of murder, he and Legolas risk everything, including their lives, to discover the truth. But just how much will justice end up costing?

Series:
Yes. Previous stories in the series are:
Captive of Darkness
Hope
First Meetings

&
Change of Heart, Change of Mind
This story will make more sense if you have read those first, although it may be possible to understand this one by itself as well.

Note: Any spelling errors or character errors are the fault of the authors only. We are not an expert on Middle Earth and have never claimed to be. So please forgive any omissions that you might find.

Please note that when Tolkien says that Aragorn’s parents died when he was young and he therefore was ‘raised in the house of Elrond’ we have taken that to mean that Elrond was something of an adopted father to his long-distant nephew, Aragorn, and Elrond’s twin sons, Elladan and Elrohir were something like older brothers to the young ranger. We realize that this may not fit everyone’s view of the situation, but it is our view and that shows in our stories. Please do not take offence, or flame us on this if you see it differently. Thanks!

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Velvet. The curtains that hung gracefully bunched along the far wall were made of deep, verdant velvet. He hadn’t noticed that before. Come to think of it he didn’t know why there were curtains there in the first place when there was no window... Aragorn dropped his eyes back to his hands, his weary, wondering mind pacing in small, disturbed circles about him; seeking to latch onto something, anything other than his current situation.

Minutes were beginning to seem like years. Eternities. The young ranger sighed and closed his eyes. He opened them again quickly a moment later, realizing his mistake.

Every time he closed his eyes Aragorn could see Sarcaulien in his mind’s eye. The way the elf had dropped slowly to the forest floor holding the shaft of the arrow that protruded from his chest in both hands. His wide startled eyes, and the confusion as he realized for the briefest of seconds that he was, in fact, dying. And then he was gone. His life was over. An immortal had perished. The anguish on the faces of the elves around him had been even more heartbreaking. Rarely if ever had any of them seen one of their own die. For an immortal, death was never thought of as an eventuality, rather it was a rarity, an oddity, an accident.

An accident.

That was what it was.

But no one save Legolas had believed him. Aragorn swallowed hard as the emotions from the day before threatened to overwhelm him yet again. He knew he hadn’t killed Sar, the warrior was a friend of Legolas and although it was true he had never felt comfortable with the elf, he never in his darkest moments had thought of killing him. He didn’t even really know how it had happened. And now he sat guarded by two tall, armed warriors, awaiting judgment in King Thranduil’s hall.

His mind raced back over the events of the last two days. He couldn’t have stopped his thoughts even if he had tried or wanted to, he had been forced to go over them again and again. They haunted him in his sleep and denied him rest.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He was on his way home, it was time to go. He had put it off for so long now, but Aragorn had decided that today would be the day he headed back out into the wilderlands. Legolas was sad to see him leave but he had known it was inevitable. As they entered the courtyards that day, a hunting part was assembling getting ready to head out. The warriors called to the elven prince and his companion urging them to join them, the hunt would be good, they didn’t know what they were missing.

"What do you think?" Legolas turned to the ranger, "Would you like to go out one more time before you leave?"

Aragorn smiled, he had come to truly enjoy the elf prince’s company and in all honesty he hated to leave Mirkwood and his friend. On an impulse he had complied and so the two of them had joined the hunt.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Aragorn shook his head sadly. He remembered the way Legolas’ eyes had lit up when he had asked him to stay for one more day, one more hunt. The words echoed like whispers in his mind. He shivered from more than just the cold. It was inhumanly silent in the large anteroom of Thranduil’s meeting hall. No one spoke, they all waited. If only he had said no.

If only...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was a typical spring day, the kind that starts out cold and ends up warm. Tracking had been easy that morning because the dew made the ground soft and pliable; the hoof prints of the deer were easy to follow as the hunting party picked up their trail and tracked the game through the forests.

Within hours they had made the small herd of animals. Three young bucks and an older stag shared a guarded meadow watching over the does that grazed under the canopy of trees.

They had agreed to split the hunting party in half and encircle the deer, cutting off their escape and sealing them in. Legolas had Sarcaulien lead around to the far side of the meadow. Aragorn had remained with the prince and the elves that had chosen to keep to the west side of the glen. As they approached the shallow, Aragorn found himself between Legolas and an elf named Morifwen. He had taken a liking to the warrior immediately and had even spent a little time with him. As he notched his arrow he thought back to the day Morifwen had taught him how to fletch the projectiles, allowing the human to use his supplies and feathers, and the patience the elf had with him when he had learned so slowly at first. It had given him great joy to be accepted by the others after such a rough start.

At a silent command the elves had released their arrows and felled the unsuspecting animals. A shout went up from the warriors as they allowed the living deer to flee the glenn. They only killed what they needed and they would have plenty now for a time.

And at that point it had all gone bad.

Legolas and the elves with him had run out into the meadow. But Sarcaulien and his warriors did not. And the shouts of joy turned to alarm. Aragorn had followed the others to the far side of the grassy bowl leaving their prey behind as the elves shouted for help. When he gained the edge of the meadow he had seen Sarcaulien. The elf looked just fine at first glance.

But then Aragorn had seen the arrow.

Spreading across the warrior’s tunic was a deep crimson stain. An arrow was embedded in his chest and he held the shaft in his hands. His gaze lifted from the protrusion and he locked eyes with Legolas and then with Aragorn. The prince ran forward and caught the elf as he slowly fell to the forest floor. But the arrow had been true and had pierced the elven heart, stopping it forever.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A sob broke from Aragorn as the memories washed over him.

He could still see Legolas’ face when the prince had turned to him. His eyes wide and full of tears, his hands trembled, stained with the blood of his friend.

The rest of the day had been a nightmare, a blur.

Morifwen had jumped forward and pulled the arrow from Sarcaulien, inspecting the weapon. He had turned towards the human and accused Aragorn of killing the warrior. Legolas had come to his friend’s defense but the sorrow of loosing their companion overrode the warrior’s sensibility and they had quickly seized the human. His quiver was taken away from him and the arrow fletchings were compared. The arrow that had killed Sarcaulien was of the same fletching as the ones that Aragorn carried. The human had denied it and Legolas had tried to shout them down.

It was circumstantial, it was an accident, it couldn’t have been Aragorn...

He remembered them taking him back to the palace. They had bound him and brought him before the King. Legolas was furious and had forced the warriors to release the human; he hadn’t been proven guilty.

Aragorn had been put under house arrest at that time; as much for his own protection as to keep him from leaving Mirkwood so he could stand trial.

He had seen Legolas only once during that long day. The elf had visited him that night. The palace was quiet and the elves had retired for the night but sleep denied itself to Aragorn. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Sarcaulien’s gaze fall on him, he saw Legolas turn tearfully towards him, he felt the fear in his heart as he was surrounded by a race that suddenly and passionately despised him again.

Legolas had found the human leaning against the balustrade on the balcony of the room the man had been sequestered in.

"Aragorn?"

The ranger had jumped at the sound of his name, his thoughts so loud and tortured, he hadn’t heard his friend enter.

Words tumbled out brokenly from the man as he backed away from the elf, "Oh Legolas, I didn’t do it. You have to believe me. I had no problem with Sar. It wasn’t my arrow. I know it wasn’t. Please believe me."

The elf nimbly caught the man as he backed away, grabbing the ranger by his arms and stopping the tearful tirade.

"He can’t be dead." Aragorn whispered, his eyes were bright with tears as he implored his friend to tell him it had all been a bad dream.

Legolas looked down and swallowed hard, his own emotions were too near the surface for him to deal with the human’s. "I know you didn’t do it." When the ranger tried to speak the elf pressed him down into a nearby chair, "I know it Strider. I was next to you. I saw your arrow, it felled the stag. I went to retrieve it afterwards but it was gone. There is proof somewhere and some one knows of it. I don’t know how this happened but I will see your name cleared."

Aragorn looked out over the castle forests, it had all been too much, the entire day. And now to find out that there was proof it wasn’t his fault, but that proof was missing and perhaps intentionally. He was shaking his head slowly as the thoughts jumbled through his mind, unfocused and brutal.

He was brought back to the present by a soft touch to his arm. When he looked back, Legolas was kneeling before him and speaking quietly.

"What?" the word came out soft and choked as he asked the elf to repeat himself.

Legolas smiled gently, it was now that the ranger truly looked like the child he was, "It will be alright. I have already spoken with my father."

Aragorn was trembling slightly from the shock of everything.

"Now listen to me." The elf needed the ranger’s attention and he needed the human to snap out of it, "I must tell you what will happen tomorrow. Do you understand?"

When the man nodded he continued, "Tomorrow there will be a formal hearing. It is a formality only. While you have been kept here this day, all sides of the argument have been presented and all parties have been questioned."

Aragorn’s heart nearly stopped and he caught his breath, they had tried him in absentia and he hadn’t been given a chance to defend himself. The fear must have shown on his face for Legolas immediately stopped and reassured the man.

"No Aragorn, it is well." The elf placed his hand behind the man’s head holding the ranger’s attention to himself, "I spoke on your behalf. My word carries more weight than any in the party, more than your own. I was standing next to you. I saw your arrow. I gave my defense of you."

The man was shaking his head but the elf continued, "Yes. My father has already ruled."

The young ranger went totally still. Legolas feared he had even stopped breathing, so he quickly continued, "The evidence is circumstantial. You will not be held accountable for Sar’s death. However he was killed, it was an accident and not premeditated on any part."

Aragorn had in fact been holding his breath as Legolas spoke. The relief smoothed lines of fear that had been etched in his face, worry that knit his brow and the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that had kept him up this late into the night.

A soft knock at the door interrupted the elf prince and he rose as a warrior walked out onto the balcony, "My lord?" The guard let the question hang in the air. The prince’s time was up.

"I will be out shortly, leave us." He stared hard at the warrior until the elf nodded and turned to go.

Legolas turned back to the ranger as Aragorn stood, glancing between the elf prince and the warrior that had just exited his room.

"Do not worry Aragorn. We will figure this out. There is much more that I must tell you, but I am out of time." He looked back over his shoulder at the door to the room. It had been left slightly ajar by the warrior, an oversight that was not lost on the prince and he lowered his voice. "Tomorrow you will be brought to trial. It is a formality only. My father will ask you if you have anything to say in your behalf. Tell him no."

When Aragorn started to argue he stepped closer to the human and grabbed his shoulder, his voice lowering so only the ranger could hear him, "Do not argue with me. Trust me Aragorn. Tell my father no. Tell him you are innocent and you wish to subject yourself to his mercy." Legolas eyes implored the young human to trust him with the information and he continued once the man had nodded his compliance, "They will want you to argue your case so they can trip you up, turning your words on you and attempting to show probable guilt. By asking my father for justice alone, he will be forced to find you not guilty. The arrow that killed Sar is also missing. Morifwen claims he turned it over but it is not in the armory anywhere. There is something else afoot here. Do as I say and we will take the next step together after that."

"My lord." The voice of the elven warrior could be heard from the doorway.

Legolas stepped away from Aragorn and moved towards the door, but the ranger stopped him. "Thank you."

The elf prince nodded.

"I am so sorry." Aragorn whispered, shaking his head helplessly.

"It is well Strider. Sar was a friend but his heart was not always good and any elf will tell you that. Tomorrow things will work out, trust me and you will see." Legolas smiled slightly at the weary man.

"I do." Aragorn answered. He smiled back when the elf raised an eyebrow in question, "I do trust you."

Legolas’ smile grew bigger and he nodded in understanding, taking leave of the human.

~*PART TWO*~

The ranger still had gotten no sleep and the guards that came for him the next morning found him in the chair Legolas had sat him in the night before.

He had gone with them compliantly and given them no trouble. Small talk was out of the question, and they had simply directed him to his seat in the front of the audience chamber of King Thranduil. Walking past the hall full of elves had been the hardest thing the young man had ever done as he was escorted to his place. He finally dropped his gaze to the floor and followed his guards to avoid the stares of the elves in attendance. There were no friendly faces in the hall that morning and he couldn’t find Legolas anywhere.

He knew he had only sat in the audience chamber for mere minutes, but it seemed like hours before the doors on the far side of the room opened and Thranduil stepped out, followed by his son. Aragorn hadn’t needed the prodding of the warriors spear tip to know to rise, he had been brought up in elven halls and his respect was not dimmed by the seriousness of the situation.

The ranger bowed low as the King took his seat, joined by his son on his right hand side. When the hall of elves had reseated themselves, Aragorn chanced a look at Legolas. The elf prince was stoic and his bearing betrayed every bit the royalty he was, but when his eyes lighted on his human friend there was a softness to them and a kindness there that reassured the young man.

Aragorn released the breath he hadn’t known he was holding and relaxed slightly as Thranduil addressed him.

"The Dùnadan will stand."

The human was dragged roughly to a standing position by the guards on either side of him.

"Do you know of the charges that have been stated against you?" The king asked with out preamble.

"Yes my lord." Aragorn replied, bowing his head slightly.

"Have you anything to say in your behalf?"

"No, my lord. I am innocent in the death of Sarcaulien. I wish only to place myself at your mercy and will accept your judgment." The man kept his eyes down. If it hadn’t been for the guards holding him in place he would have formally knelt.

There were whispers of surprise from the room behind him and Thranduil fought the urge to glance at his son. For his part Legolas appeared aloof and disinterested, but he held his breath as he waited for his fathers next words.

When the room had quieted once more, the king continued, "Very well then. I have already heard the testimonies of all parties in witness. As you have chosen not to give your own, I will accept the one given for you."

Aragorn raised his gaze back up to meet that of the king’s.

"Because of the evidence presented, I do not find you at fault. The death of Sarcualien in all respects appears to be nothing more than an accident. Your part in it is not in question before this court. The charges against you have been dropped." The king gazed out at the room full of elves. "If there are no more testimonies or objections this session is complete and the Dùnadan known as Strider is free to go."

For a moment the room remained hung in silence at the edict. But the spell was broken by the shuffling sounds of several elves standing to their feet. An elven voice that Aragorn did not recognize spoke from the audience.

"My lord. I am Sarcayul second son of Traycaul, brother of Sarcaulien. I speak for my brothers and our relatives when I request the right of familial retribution." The elf held the king’s gaze.

Legolas released his breath quietly beside his father and looked away from the warriors that stood in the audience. He had been worried of this very thing but had not had time to warn Aragorn.

The king however did not drop his gaze from the brothers’. Sarcayul noted the displeasure of the royalty and continued. "My lords we do not fault your findings. But they are, as you yourself stated, based on circumstantial evidence and we do not agree with them. It is our right by the old code to request retribution."

"You are correct in stating that it is your right, however I do not agree with your choice. By law I grant you your request, with stipulations."

Thranduil turned to Aragorn who had been trying to follow the exchange. He could tell from Legolas’ reaction that something had gone wrong but the exact details eluded him. Never during his years in Rivendell had anything like this ever had the occasion of happening and the elven rights and rules associated with such an event were foreign to him.

"Strider, do you understand what has transpired?" The king asked the human.

"No, my lord I do not." Aragorn shook his head.

Legolas would not meet his eyes, so the ranger focused on the king.

"Sarcaulien’s family has asked for the right of retribution. Because the evidence surrounding Sarcaulien’s death was circumstantial and not proving either fault or innocence I cannot convict you of wrong doing and because you have not been proven innocent beyond any doubt Sarcaulien’s surviving family can exact vengeance on you." He stopped to let his words sink in. "Do you understand now? They may seek your life and take it." When the ranger nodded the king continued, "However I am allowed to put restrictions upon such a request. As is my right, I do so now."

Thranduil gazed back out at the assembled elves, "The family of Sarcaulien has requested the right of retribution as is our law, I grant them that right with the following restrictions. While in this house, the Dùnadan known as Strider is safe. Beyond any of Mirkwood’s boundaries the human may not be harmed. If you kill this man and so violate my restrictions his blood will be on your head and you will be accountable to me for his death. If Strider comes to an end by any elven hand in this wood, then his blood is on his own head. This rule stands until the last of Sarcaulien’s relatives leave for the undying lands. As my word it is law, and cannot be contested."

The elven lord stood, "This meeting is completed." He looked again at Aragorn and addressed his guards, "Release the human and clear the hall." With that the king walked back out the door he had entered and Legolas left with him.

Aragorn’s guards stepped away from him and followed the others out of the audience chambers. No one spoke to the human and within moments the hall had emptied completely. Aragorn fell back down into his seat, dropping his head into his hands.

"How is it that you get into these messes?" He spoke softly to himself, mumbling towards the floor as he tried to sort through everything that had happened in the past few hours. "Maybe father was right, I should have stayed home and learned how to be a healer. Healers never end up in these situations." He groaned sarcastically, shaking his head. "Wait till Elladan hears about this."

"Is it common for humans to talk to themselves?"

The voice of the elf startled the ranger and he sat up quickly. When he caught sight of Legolas’ amused frown he smiled and leaned back with a sigh.

"Well it’s common when they are in situations that are over their heads." Aragorn ran his hand through his hair brushing the stray locks out of his eyes. "And I am my friend, I am."

Legolas’ smile was sad. "I shall have to remember that." He nodded towards the door, "Come I’ll see you safely on your way."

Aragorn stared at the elf in disbelief and questioned him, "What do you mean? Aren’t you going to help me?"

"Help you?" Legolas sat down next the ranger, a frown creasing his brow as he tried to understand, "Help you what?"

"Help me clear my name!" Aragorn’s voice rose as the fear inside him escalated once more.

"No," Legolas shook his head as if Aragorn were a little slow today. "You have to leave Mirkwood."

"You of all people know that I can not do that. Not now."

"Aragorn..."

"No, Legolas. They think I killed Sarcaulien. Your people still believe that I am guilty. There is someone out there that knows the truth and I need to find them or the proof that I am innocent." He plead with the elf, "Will you help me clear my name?"

"Do you not understand that any of Sarcaulien’s relatives may take your life under the guise of familial retribution? Do you not realize that the only safe places for you are here in this building and outside Mirkwood’s borders?" Legolas’ own fear was heightened. The human didn’t realize the danger he was in.

"If I don’t clear my name, I will never be able to return. Have you not thought that through!" Aragorn stood from his seat and paced in front of the elf prince.

"They will kill you Aragorn!"

"What is it with your people that they hate humans so much?!" He rounded on the elf, his anger touched off by the helplessness he felt, "I know the stories, they have been driven into my mind by the countless years of retelling, how the elves and the humans fought side by side and many elves died and..."

"And man allowed evil to flourish." Legolas finished the tale softly.

Aragorn turned towards him, his eyes were dark and fierce and the elf sat back slightly as the human approached him and knelt down in front of him, never dropping his gaze. When he spoke, his voice was hushed and dangerous, "Yes and man fell and their power was weakened. And the one man who continued the legacy of evil, that one is my ancestor. His blood runs in me Legolas you know that. I am Aragorn son of Arathorn, heir of Isuldur, the very one who could have ended it all, cleared *his* name and that of man, but did not and now I live with that shame. With that knowledge. And you are asking me to accept this, this death sentence on top of that?"

"Don’t be a fool Aragorn!" Legolas stared intently into his friend’s eyes, a hint of helpless anguish in their silver-blue depths. "I can’t protect you, don’t you understand that? I *can’t* help you! Royalty is forbidden from interfering in these cases! Because I am prince, I cannot even aid you as a friend normally could! I would not see you die over a baseless charge. Go home Strider. Please." Legolas’ voice dropped down to a soft, distressed whisper.

Aragorn rose and shook his head resolutely. "I appreciate your concern, but it’s all right, I don’t *need* your help, I can do this on my own." The young ranger’s tone had acquired a hint of frost. He did not really understand Legolas’ reluctance to assist him and it hurt more than he wanted to admit.

"Human! You cannot! And what do you expect to accomplish? Where will you start?" Legolas tried to get the young man to see the hopelessness of the situation. "Don’t you realize they will hunt you down?"

"Then they’ll have to catch me first." The ranger grabbed his over coat and headed to the door.

"Strider!" Legolas called after him trying one more time to stop his friend, "Aragorn!"

The man stopped on the threshold, not turning back, he dropped his gaze to the floor, he would not let the elf see how truly upset he was. "What?" His voice however betrayed his emotions.

"Where will you start?" Legolas slowly approached his friend.

Aragorn shook his head slowly, thinking through the possibilities, "I can’t let it go. Don’t you see that?" Finally he turned back as Legolas gained his position. "I always thought that somehow I could fit in here too. My father told me it wouldn’t work that way. But then I met you and Raniean and Trelan, hell even Sar. I know you are elven, I know I am human. I just thought..."

He turned back to leave, but Legolas stopped him and slowly closed the door, blocking his path. When the human turned around, Legolas sighed and dropped his gaze to the floor, "I have hated men for more centuries than you have been alive." When Aragorn did not speak he continued, "My people are good people Strider, but they have become very wary in the last few millennia. Things have changed so much."

The prince turned and walked back to the front of the hall. "There have been times in the past that these halls were full of people from everywhere celebrating our conjoined friendships. But those days have long since slipped from the memory of most and mistrust has displaced the joy of my people. You my friend, have changed a lot of that."

He smiled at the ranger, "You are the first human that has been allowed under these woods without threat and with the freedom to come and go as he pleases for longer than I can recount."

"Until now." Aragorn said softly.

"Yes, until now." Legolas agreed sadly.

"Don’t you see then, why I must clear my name?" He grabbed the elf by the shoulders and forced his friend to look him in the eyes, "I want to be welcome here. I value our friendship."

Legolas broke free and moved away, shaking his head. "Why I ever saved you that night is beyond me." Aragorn couldn’t see the light in the elves eyes or the smile on his fair face.

When he turned back, the human was staring at him wide-eyed, speechless. The elf couldn’t help himself and he started to laugh. Aragorn caught on a few minutes later and finally smiled as he watched the elf.

"So..." He held out his hand in question, "will you help me?"

Legolas had grown serious once more, but the smile still played about his lips as he consented, "Yes. But one does not just walk out the front door when he has a death sentence hanging over his head!" Rolling his eyes he hooked his long graceful fingers in the cuff of the rangers overcoat and drug the man behind him as he walked to the front of the hall.

"We will take the back door my human friend and it may be that you might live long enough to clear your name."

Aragorn started laughing as he was directed out of the hall by means of a private door that he had not seen before.

"So where do we start?"

"At the beginning." The elf answered cryptically.

"And which beginning would that be?" The ranger tried to remember the all the twists and turns they were taking deep inside the palace.

"Lets try the beginning of yesterday to start with, shall we?" Legolas pushed a side door open and they stepped out into the castle’s courtyard, well behind the hall they had just exited.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Legolas twirled an arrow idly between his fingers, lost deep in thought as he stood beside an open window, leaning slightly against the frame. He and Aragorn had tried to puzzle out what must have happened in the woods yesterday, re-creating the situation as best they could. Yet their efforts had not gotten them very far. They had only three solid facts to work from: Sarcaulien was dead, somebody shot him, and it was not Aragorn. That really wasn’t much to go on. The missing arrows held the key somehow, Legolas felt sure, but without them... he wasn’t exactly positive what their next step should be.

They had separated so Legolas could do a little private investigating without drawing the kind of attention he would garner with Aragorn hanging around. The prince had turned up nothing useful and was not sure what to suggest to his friend now.

"Legolas." Thranduil’s voice made Legolas jerk slightly, so lost in thought had he been.

"Yes father?" Legolas looked up, pulling away from the window.

"Legolas, why is the human still here?" the king’s brow was knit in concern. "Elrynd tells me he has not left. For his own sake sooner would be better than later. I thought you were going to see him on his way?"

Legolas fiddled with the arrow in his hands. "He... has decided not to leave. Strider wishes to stay and try to clear his name."

"What?" Thranduil replied incredulously, just as Legolas had known he would. "Has he lost his mind? Does he *wish* to die?" Suddenly the king stopped, fixing his son with a suspicious, hard gaze.

Legolas knew what was coming next.

"Legolas, tell me you are not encouraging this. Tell me you are not helping him," Thranduil demanded quietly.

Legolas did not look up to meet his father’s eyes. He said nothing and that was an answer in and of itself.

"Legolas what are you thinking?!" Thranduil said somewhat harshly. "You know the law! Once the right of familial retribution has been passed down it is out of the hands of the court and neither the king nor any of his household may interfere or offer aide to either side!"

"I know," Legolas interjected, holding up his hand for peace. "But I am not aiding him as a prince, I am aiding him as his friend. I would not use my position to-"

"The law does not differentiate," Thranduil cut his son off with a shake of his head. "It makes no difference. You are a prince first Legolas, you cannot be less than you are. You cannot aide the Dùnadan in this or you make yourself guilty, and that I would not see happen. Strider chooses his own folly, leave him to it."

"You don’t understand," Legolas shook his head. "Strider is not just another Dùnadan. He is Aragorn son of Arathorn, heir of Isildur, heir to the throne of Gondor! Surely he deserves more consideration than just anyone."

Thranduil was not moved by the information. "It matters not whose heir he is, and Isildur is not an ancestor to be proud of. The kingdom of men is lost, they are scattered and weak. Loosing one more human will not hurt Middle Earth at all. Sarcayul’s request was within his rights and I granted it, end of story. If the Dùnadan is stubborn enough to not heed wisdom when he hears it he calls down his own doom."

"If not me, then who?" Legolas reasoned, trying to remain respectful, but feeling his frustration mount. "He is my friend..."

"You are a prince," Thranduil cut his son off, raising his hand in a warning for the boy to halt. "You know what that means. We may not become involved."

"But-"

"Do you not think that I feel as you?" the King shook his head sorrowfully, meaning what he said. "I do not think the boy guilty and I wish not his fate upon him, but if we do not stand behind our laws Legolas than we are nothing! Kings and princes may not change the laws of the land simply to suit their own feelings, I would think you were old enough to understand that my son."

Legolas let his head sink to his breast at the rebuke, but his determination was not quelled and his father could see that.

"If the human would just leave..." Thranduil said slowly.

Legolas looked up sharply. "You mean run away, like a frightened cur? Would you do that? Would you not be filled with shame if I were in his position and took that course? Nay. At first I counseled the same thing, but I think better of it now. He cannot-"

Thranduil gripped his son’s shoulders tightly, almost surprising Legolas by his vehemence. "Listen to me Legolas! I do not care about him, I care about you! I fear what folly may take you away from me my son. So I tell you, as your father and your king, stay away from him!"

Legolas’ brows knitted. "Is that a command, father?" he said somewhat coldly.

"Yes," Thranduil said firmly, releasing his child. "If that is the only thing you will understand. I forbid you to have anything more to do with that man until this situation is resolved, is that clear?"

Legolas’ mouth tightened and his eyes flashed, but he gave one, succinct nod. "You have made yourself very clear, am I dismissed now?" His voice was strained.

Thranduil sighed and shook his head. "You think me unreasonable my son, but you must understand! We do not have the luxury that others have of acting only on our feelings, however noble they may be."

"I understand perfectly," Legolas said, still somewhat cold. "The law is more important than an innocent man’s life. What is there to not understand about that?"

"Legolas!" Thranduil’s eyes were filled with the anguish of his situation and his voice sharp from the conflict between law and loyalty inside him. "I understand how you feel, but your disrespect only shames you!"

Legolas looked down. In that at least, his father was right. "I’m sorry father," he murmured, and that was genuine. He was not sorry about what he felt, but he was sorry that he had spoken contemptuously to his father and his king.

Thranduil sighed, passing his hand wearily before his eyes. "Legolas... you know what I would be forced to do if you insist on getting involved in this! My son... don’t make me do what would break both our hearts!"

Legolas looked away. "Just because there is a law does not mean it is right, does it?" he asked quietly. "Cannot there be bad laws as well as good?"

"Maybe, but it is not our place to change them at our discretion alone," the king said earnestly.

Legolas met his father’s eyes. "Then whose place is it?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Aragorn waited for Legolas for a half an hour. When the prince did not show, the young man became restless. He supposed Legolas had been detained following whatever leads he had found, but he had no wish to sit around and wait for him any longer. Inaction did not suit the young ranger.

Leaving the palace he began crossing the gardens beyond. It did not occur to him that by leaving the walls of the palace, even if still on palace grounds, he made himself vulnerable.

That is, it did not occur to him until suddenly a dozen elves dropped from the trees around him with their weapons drawn. Sarcayul was among them, and the others Aragorn had seen with him at the hearing. Also several persons that Aragorn did not recognize. He was disappointed to see Morifwen there. Morifwen had been on good terms with him at one time and it brought home to Aragorn again how much had changed and how quickly.

Aragorn knew better than to try any sudden movements. Elven archers could drop a man before he had time to blink.

Sarcayul edged his way to the front, glaring at the young human. "You should have left Strider. Now you’re mine. I could just kill you, but that would be too good for you," his voice was low and angry. "So you go ahead and fight us, and when you lose I can savor your defeat before I take your head." Sarcayul pulled his sword.

Aragorn did not go for his weapon, but raised his hands in a petition for peace. He did not wish to spill Elven blood, especially since that was what he already stood under suspicion of. "Sarcayul, please, I do not wish to fight you. I did not kill your brother!"

"Then I call you a liar *and* a coward human!" Sarcayul spat angrily. Reaching out he shoved Aragorn backward a few paces, advanced and shoved him again. "Are you afraid of us? I think you are. Well you have reason to be. You ended my brother’s life, you extinguished an immortal flame and for that we *will* have retribution on you!"

"I_didn’t_kill_anybody!" Aragorn ground out through his teeth, shoving Sarcayul’s hands away from him. That was all it took and the elf lunged him. For a moment they grappled, but Aragorn refused to draw a weapon on the elf, even when Sarcayul’s sword grazed his right shoulder. The young ranger tried to pull away from the confrontation, but the others wouldn’t let him.

Aragorn was an excellent fighter, but he could not battle all of them at once, especially when he did not wish to kill anyone, and they did. Presently he was brought to the ground, landing hard on his back. Immediately, a long, elven dagger at his throat pinned him there.

Sarcayul straddled Aragorn’s chest, pinning his arms to the ground with his knees and pressing the knife down hard until it bit into the young man’s flesh. "And so my brother is avenged," he whispered coldly, his grip tightening on the knife as he prepared to take his opponent’s life.

~*PART THREE*~

Legolas walked out into the late afternoon sunshine. The day was bright, even as it began to wan, but his thoughts were troubled. He knew that Aragorn would be wondering where he was. He was supposed to have met him almost an hour ago. Yet his conversation with his father troubled him and now he was unsure how to proceed.

He could not imagine simply abandoning Aragorn now, yet neither did he wish to go against his father... he wasn’t sure what he was going to do.

Angry voices in a glen off to his right caught the elf’s attention. When he drew closer, his heart stopped at what he found there.

~*~

Aragorn closed his eyes as he felt Sarcayul’s blade bite into his throat. He knew there was no way out of this now, he could not move had he wanted to. He found himself wondering what death would feel like.

"Move that blade another inch and I’ll drop you where you stand Sarcayul!" a familiar voice threatened suddenly and Aragorn’s eyes popped open.

Legolas stood about five yards away, his bow drawn. The arrow across its strings was aimed directly at the elf who was sitting on Aragorn’s chest.

"Stay out of this Legolas!" Sarcayul turned his glare upon the prince. He eased up a little on the knife, but did not get off of Aragorn. "This does not concern you."

"I say it does," Legolas countered. "Let him go, now!" He drew the bowstring back slightly. "I’m not making idle threats Sarcayul," he warned quietly.

The other elf scowled darkly as he rose to his feet, giving Aragorn a swift kick to the ribs as he did so.

Aragorn quickly scrambled to his feet, his hand going to his sore throat. Once the young man was safely at his side, Legolas lowered his bow and let the arrow slide out of its notch.

Sarcayul and his companions glared at the two friends, but none of them were stupid enough to raise a hand against Legolas. His father would have all their heads for that.

"You are out of line Legolas!" Sarcayul said angrily. "You have no right to deny me my kill and you’ll pay for this! You can’t protect the human forever. I’m going to your father; we’ll see what he thinks about your interference! And once you are out of the way I will do what I should have done now," he threatened darkly, turning his simmering gaze upon Aragorn. "You’re a dead man Strider, you just don’t know it yet. You can hide in the palace for only so long, but as soon as you set foot outside, you’re mine!"

Legolas’ lips pressed into a tight line of anger. "Do not think to tell me what is and isn’t my place on the grounds of my own home Sarcayul! Now get out of here before I put an arrow in you for your folly!"

The other elves left with many a dark and hateful look over their shoulders.

Legolas slung his bow over his shoulder and turned to Aragorn. "I thought I told you to stay in the palace until I got back."

Aragorn guiltily rubbed his neck, which was stained with blood. "I didn’t realize that the palace grounds were not considered part of the palace, I’m sorry."

Legolas sighed and shook his head. "You could have been sorrier. This isn’t a game Aragorn. These people are deadly and they mean business. They were not joking about laying in wait for you. We have to get you out of here now."

"But-"

"Don’t argue with me Aragorn," Legolas cut him off. "I’m not suggesting you run away, just that we find a better place to conduct our investigation from. As soon as Sarcayul and his cronies speak with my father I will no longer be able to help you if we remain here, and they will lay in wait for you just as they threatened, and there will be no escape." A shadow passed over Legolas’ face, but he dispelled it quickly. What was done was done. He could not change it. Nor would he if he had to do it over again. They had to take the moment and the situation they were handed and deal with it the best they could.

Aragorn nodded, seeing the sense of the suggestion. "Legolas..." he asked hesitantly. "Have I just gotten you in some kind of trouble?"

Legolas grinned wryly to hide the very real shadow of uncertainty and concern inside him. "My friend you excel at that. But come, I would see those wounds tended quickly before we leave. No good getting out into the wild and having you die on me!" he laughed lightly, gesturing to the blood on Aragorn’s shoulder and throat.

Aragorn smiled and shook his head.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Thranduil’s eyes were dark and he glared at Sarcayul and his companions as if he would like very much to take his anger out on the message bearers in this instance. "You are certain of what you speak?" he queried harshly. "This is a serious thing you bring to me, I swear I shall have your tongue out if you have lied to me!"

Sarcayul was not backed down by the threat. "We all saw it, we all swear to it. I wish I could tell you otherwise my King."

"Hmph, I’ll bet you do," Thranduil said darkly. These tidings disturbed him greatly. Legolas had defied him and wantonly broken the law. His son had betrayed him in favor of a *man* of all things. The king’s look was grim and angry when he summoned his guards.

"Find Prince Legolas. Bring him to me at once. He may try to leave, so seal off the palace grounds. No one gets in or out until I say so, is that clear?" Thranduil ordered.

"Yes, your Highness," the guards nodded and bowed. On their way out the door they exchanged curious, concerned glances. These were strange doings going on in Mirkwood this day.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Aragorn’s wounds had been tended as quickly as possible and the two friends made their way towards the great gate, being careful to avoid being seen.

Not careful enough apparently.

"You two, halt!" a voice called from behind them. Legolas turned just long enough to see Amil-Garil, captain of the palace guard, calling out to them.

"Run!" the elf gave Aragorn a shove to get him started and together they took flight.

"Wait!" Amil-Garil called after them, obviously surprised by their course of action. "Your highness, Prince Legolas, wait!"

But they did not wait. Legolas knew what he had done, and how his father would take it. If he went back now he did not know what would happen exactly, but one thing was sure, Aragorn would become trapped in the palace and to attempt leaving would be death for him. They had to leave now, or it would be too late. Later, when this whole mess was solved... then Legolas would have to face his father, but not yet.

They had the element of surprise because Amil-Garil had not expected the prince to flee from him and so the two friends managed to lose their pursuers. The gate was in sight now. It was closed, of course, but Legolas quickly put his hand up and commanded them to open. "Edro!"

Nothing happened.

Legolas tried again. Again, no response. Legolas pounded his fist against the inside of the sealed gate in frustration, realizing what must have happened. Never before had the magic gates to the palace been closed so that he could not open them. Only Thranduil had the power to do that.

"Is this a bad thing?" Aragorn looked around breathlessly, his chest heaving as he sought to regain his air from their flight.

"These gates are sealed by magic," Legolas said, giving one last, useless push against them. "Usually I can open them... but now they do not listen to me."

Aragorn nodded grimly, understanding. "So we’re trapped then. There is no other way out of the palace grounds."

Legolas considered this for a moment. "Maybe, maybe not..." his sharp elven ears picked up the sound of someone approaching and he quickly pulled Aragorn into the shadows with him. They had to get out of the palace and into the woods.

They pressed themselves back into the dense foliage to the side of the gate and Legolas could feel Aragorn’s quickened breath stir his hair as two guards approached and took up positions on either side of the gate.

There was no danger of anyone getting in the magic gates, so these guards were obviously there to prevent anyone from getting out.

Legolas closed his eyes for a moment, repressing the stab of pain that went through his heart. His father hadn’t wasted any time.

"Listen to me Strider, there is another way that we may be able to use. Follow me," he breathed into his friend’s ear, before edging silently away.

Aragorn followed soundlessly. Legolas led him swiftly and silently through many twisting halls and tunnels that the elf prince knew by heart.

They had descended far under ground by now and Aragorn wondered where they were going.

They were in fact on the level of the palace which the dungeons and cellars were kept. They were hurrying down a torch-lit hall when footsteps coming fast from the corner behind them made their rapid pace turn into a quick, last minute dash for the cover of a side passage.

Several porters and one of the jailers passed by. Aragorn felt sure they would hear the heavy pounding of his heart, but the elves passed by without pause.

Beside him, Aragorn heard Legolas let out his breath once the other elves had passed and suddenly paused to wonder what it must be like for the elf prince to have to sneak around like a criminal in his own home. A pang of guilt passed through the young ranger, but there was no time for it because Legolas was already moving again, beckoning him to follow.

At last they reached a long, steep stairway.

"Down here, quickly!" Legolas said urgently, leading Aragorn down the seemingly endless staircase. Upon reaching the bottom they found themselves in a large cellar packed with rows upon rows of barrels filled with everything imaginable from wine to apples.

Legolas leaned lightly against the wall for a moment, battling down the dull ache in his still-healing leg. Pushing off quickly, he made his way to where two large wooden trap doors interrupted the stone floor.

Aragorn’s brows knit as he noticed that the elf was walking with a very slight, but just noticeable limp.

"Legolas, are you all right?" Aragorn asked with concern. "Does your leg hurt you?"

The limp immediately disappeared. Legolas shrugged the question off.

"We do much trade with Esgaroth down on Long Lake," the elf explained briefly, gesturing to the barrels of goods around them. He pulled open the trapdoors and, to Aragorn’s surprise, revealed a rushing stream of dark water flowing beneath their feet.

Legolas smiled at Aragorn’s surprised look. "The Forest River flows beneath the castle on its way to join the River Running. Empty barrels are dropped down through these doors and the current carries them down to Lake Town."

Aragorn nodded slowly, understanding dawning upon his features. "Then the stream exits the palace. And so can we."

"Ah, you’re brighter than you look," Legolas teased and Aragorn rolled his eyes.

Legolas’ gaze turned a little more serious as he looked down at the dark water flowing only a few inches below the surface of the doors. Heavy rains upstream had swollen the river and it was much higher than usual. Normally, there was plenty of air between the water and the roof of the stone tunnels that channeled the river beneath the palace, but now... Legolas could not be sure they would have any opportunity to draw breath until they were safely out the other end of the underwater tunnel.

He did not tell Strider about his concerns yet, but pulled the heavy, creaking lever to open the portcullis, or steel underwater gate that prevented anyone from entering the tunnel from the outside.

The young prince returned to the edge of the trapdoor, winding his hair behind him into a quick loop to keep it out of his way as he looked down at the swollen river at their feet.

"You *can* swim?" he thought to ask, pausing to look up at his young human friend.

Aragorn nodded quickly. "Of course."

"Well what about holding your breath? It may be a long trip to the other side," the elf cautioned. He had no desire to drown his friend by accident.

"I can make it," the ranger assured, but then paused. "Legolas, do you think this is a good idea?"

"Do you have any better ones?" Legolas shrugged. "The tunnel isn’t *that* long, we should be-"

"I don’t mean about the water..." Aragorn shook his head. "I mean... I don’t want to get you in any more trouble," he admitted with concern.

Legolas grinned wryly, pulling off his boots and tucking them under his belt. "Too late for that, isn’t it?"

Dropping lightly down into the water before anything more could be said, Legolas disappeared into the dark, swirling current and there was nothing for Aragorn to do but follow.

Aragorn took a deep breath and let himself down into the water. He was immediately caught up by the rushing current and swept away from the trapdoor, sucked down into the underwater tunnels that channeled the river out. The water was freezing cold and the weight of the current pressed against his chest, as if trying to squeeze the air out of his lungs. The young man bumped his head against the top of the tunnel and the shock of the impact caused him to let out some of his breath. It was a mistake.

He tried to swim, but the current made a controlled swim impossible and he found himself being jostled and thrown against the sides of the tunnel as the water pushed him through. There was no air in the channels, just as Legolas had feared, and a terrible claustrophobic feeling gripped at Aragorn’s heart, making his already aching lungs tighten from the added weight of fear.

Legolas quickly found that fighting the water did no good, so he accepted its power and let the current take him, trying to keep his heart from speeding up in fear and using more oxygen as the freezing water rushed him through the tiny, closed tunnels. The chilly water bit at the new flesh of his heeling leg, making the old injury throb painfully.

Aragorn’s lungs burned and a frightened panic gripped his heart despite his best efforts to remain calm. His air was gone and he was trapped under water and thousands of pounds of stone above that. There was no air left in his lungs and his body screamed at him as bright, artificial bursts of light exploded across his vision in the inky blackness.

Just when the young man thought he wasn’t going to make it, the bright light of sunshine touched his face and his head broke the surface. For a moment he saw the tree-laden riverbank on either side, with tree branches dipping down to touch the stream as if seeking an extra drink. Then his head went under again.

Remembering that he had to actually swim now, Aragorn clawed desperately at the water as he tried to figure out what way was up. His head broke the surface again and he tried to draw in a gasping breath of air, only to get a mouthful of water with it. The young ranger choked and floundered slightly, disorientated and dizzy.

Strong hands caught him before he could go under again as Legolas grabbed his friend’s sodden tunic and forced him above the water, helping him keep his head up as Aragorn choked on the water he had inhaled, coughing desperately as he tried to get air into his starved lungs.

Legolas’ leg burned mercilessly as he struggled to keep both himself and his friend on the surface. They had to get the riverbank *now* or he was going to be in trouble.

"I *thought* you said you could swim," the elf remarked as he attempted to guide them both towards the shoreline. His tone was the only thing about them that was dry.

Aragorn had recovered himself pretty quickly and was actually swimming on his own now. They pulled themselves up onto the bank and sighed in relief. Aragorn coughed a couple more times, then leaned up on his elbow, wiping his dark hair out of his eyes.

"Swim, yes, breath water, no," the human retorted, once he had enough breath to do so. "I thought *you* said that those tunnels weren’t very long!"

Legolas shrugged, pulling his sodden boots back on and wincing at the aggravated ache in his right calf. Elf bodies healed quickly and his wound was already considerably mended, but what he had just put it through had not helped any.

Aragorn wiped the last of the stinging water out of his eyes and saw Legolas for the first time. The elf prince’s long hair was slicked back flat against his head, his clothing clung to him and water was dripping from his pointed ears. In spite of everything, the young ranger could not help laughing. The puzzled and slightly irritated look on Legolas’ face did not help and Aragorn chuckled helplessly, setting off another coughing fit.

"And what, pray tell, is so funny?" Legolas raised one dripping eyebrow questioningly.

That was almost too much; Aragorn curled over helplessly, holding his side and trying to stop, which of course only made him laugh harder.

"Y-you!" Aragorn managed to squeeze out around his mirth. Legolas always looked so graceful and collected, somehow seeing him like this was just too funny. "You look like-like a drown rat!"

"Save us," Legolas muttered, rolling his eyes as he tucked one dripping strand of hair behind his ear. "I seriously begin to question your sanity sometimes Strider."

The elf rose with exaggerated dignity. "Besides," he quipped, looking down at the dripping ranger who was still leaning on his elbow on the ground. Aragorn’s dark hair was plastered down across his face and his silly grin did very little for his waterlogged appearance. A smile quirked the elf’s graceful lips. "Look who’s talking."

~*PART FOUR*~

By the time night had fallen, their sodden clothes had ceased to be a laughing matter.

Aragorn resisted the urge to chatter slightly, hugging himself for warmth against the chilly night air and the damp coldness of his own wet clothing.

Elves are not as effected by the elements of hot and cold as some other races, so the chill did not seem to bother Legolas over-much, however, the still-damp clothing was distinctly uncomfortable.

It had not taken long for their presence to be missed. Search parties had started looking for them not a full half-hour after their escape. This had forced the two friends to retreat deep into the darker, southern reaches of the forest.

The first two times they had had to hide from the searchers Aragorn had followed Legolas’ lead and concealed himself without question. Yet as the groups of elves forced them to retreat further and further south, he had begun to wonder what exactly they were hiding from, especially when a troop of the royal guard passed them by. He understood the need to stay away from Sarcaulien’s brothers, and the others that had been openly hunting his blood, but surely not all the elves would want him dead... especially not with Legolas with him...

"Legolas," the young man shook his head, turning questioning eyes upon his friend. "Why are we hiding? What are all these people doing out here? You said I was free to go if I wished..." he didn’t understand.

The question had been nibbling at the back of his mind since they had been locked inside the palace, but he hadn’t had the time for it to form into a conscious thought until now.

Legolas’ gaze followed the retreating form of the guards, intentionally not meeting his friend’s eye. "They’re not looking for you Aragorn," he said quietly. "Come, they’ve gone."

"Whoa, wait," Aragorn caught the elf prince’s arm, halting him. "What do you mean they’re not looking for *me*? Then... who are they looking for?"

Legolas sighed, giving his friend a look that seemed to question his intelligence. "There’s only two of us Strider. If they’re not looking for you, who do you *think* they’re looking for?"

"But... but why?" the young ranger shook his head, his brows furrowing in concern.

Legolas looked away, obviously preferring that they not have this conversation. "My father and I had a... a difference of opinion regarding my involvement in your case. It is a small matter," he made light of the situation. "We should be going."

Aragorn wasn’t about to let it drop that easy, he was beginning to realize that he may have gotten his friend into worse trouble than he thought and that notion did not sit well with him.

"Legolas," his voice was serious and he gestured towards where the last search party had disappeared a few moments previous. "*That* is not a ‘small matter’. They have half of Mirkwood searching for us. What’s going on?"

Legolas looked perturbed by his friend’s unwillingness to let the matter go. "You recall I mentioned to you that there is a law forbidding royalty to interfere in situations like yours?" he said at last with a small sigh. "Well it seems my actions have placed me on the other side of that edict."

Aragorn’s eyes widened. "They want to arrest you?"

Legolas fixed him with an almost amused stare. "That seems to be the general idea."

Aragorn didn’t find it funny. "Legolas..."

The elven prince raised his hand, cutting off his friend’s words. "We need to prove your innocence beyond a shadow of a doubt Aragorn, we need to figure out what happened to those missing arrows. *That* is what we must concentrate on now," he said firmly.

Aragorn nodded slowly. He figured that the sooner they got his name cleared, the sooner Legolas would be able to go home as well.

Right now however, all Aragorn could really think about was how very cold it was. Night had set upon them and along with the chill, he had to fight back the shudder that ran up his spine whenever he let his gaze drift out at the darkness around them. Eyes glittered dully in the dark, seeming to be illuminated in their own light. Bulbous spider eyes, and hard, squinty, evil eyes that he could not even begin to guess at the nature of. They made his flesh crawl, although he was not about to admit that to anyone, especially since Legolas seemed unperturbed by either the darkness, or the eyes. Of course, Legolas had lived in these woods a long, long time.

"I still don’t see why we can’t have a fire," the young ranger shook his head. The elf might not need the warmth, but dang it all, he sure wouldn’t mind some right about now. "We’re deep into the southern reaches now, there’s no search parties about, no one to see us... there’s plenty of kindling..."

Legolas rolled his eyes. They had been over this before. He wasn’t about to try explaining again. "All right," the prince didn’t argue this time. Instead he simply settled down onto the ground with his back against a tree and waved his hand permissively. "Go ahead and start one."

Aragorn set to work and soon had a cheery little blaze started. He didn’t understand why Legolas had been against the idea... for about five seconds. Then, the eyes began to appear. He had thought that the three or four sets peering out at them on occasion were bad, now there seemed to be hundreds of them. The creatures stayed just out of reach of any light that might reveal them, but their eyes shone brightly in the firelight and Aragorn could swear they looked hungry.

Almost instantly a huge cloud of great, grey-bodied moths descended upon them, drawn by the light of the fire. The air was suddenly thick with their large, flapping bodies as they whirled around the two friends’ ears and threw themselves heedlessly into the flames, creating quite a foul odor.

Aragorn swore and swatted at the moths, but there was no getting rid of them, nor the menacing presence of the eyes.

Legolas watched impassively from his place against the tree, only blinking and turning away when the moths fluttered into his face. He looked at Aragorn with a gaze that seemed to say: "Well, isn’t this fun?"

After about a minute of that, the young ranger quickly kicked out the fire and some semblance of calm began to return to the area as the eyes faded and the moths began to disperse. However, Aragorn couldn’t shake the awful thought that maybe the eyes weren’t really gone, you just couldn’t see them without the reflection of the firelight.

He dropped down next to Legolas, as close as he could get without actually seeming like he *wanted* to be close. He could feel Legolas looking at him in the dark. "Don’t say it," the young man warned.

"Say what?" Legolas asked innocently, but there was hedged amusement behind his tone.

"That you tried to warn me, about the fire. Don’t say it." Aragorn glared at the elf in the darkness, shivering involuntarily.

"I don’t seem to need to, you just did," there was no mistaking the hint of laughter in the elf’s voice this time.

Aragorn grimaced and shook his head. "You know, I’m afraid I really don’t think much of your home right now Legolas."

The elf prince beside him sighed. "It was not always like this," he said quietly. Aragorn had meant the words as a jesting barb, but Legolas was serious in his reply. "I can remember the days when Greenwood the Great was beautiful and exceedingly fair. Before evil came and turned it into this place. Into Mirkwood. Many things are changing Strider. Many things have changed. Some for the better, some for the worse."

Aragorn just nodded. He was used to elves and their ways. He was accustomed to the ease with which they could go from merry to serious and back again in the blink of an eye; and their often-mysterious comments did not puzzle him. Perhaps that was one of the reasons that he and Legolas were able to become as close as they had, because at some times, Aragorn could think almost like an elf, although at others he was obviously all human.

Legolas took the first watch. Aragorn thought that sleeping would be next to impossible for him that night, but he managed to doze off eventually, worn-out by the events of the day. It seemed he had only just closed his eyes when Legolas was shaking him awake.

"What? What is it?" Aragorn forced his sleep-leadened eyes open, trying to pierce the thick gloom around them. In the dark he could just see the outline of his friend’s face. "Is it my turn already?" he yawned, but Legolas pressed his fingers to the man’s lips, bidding him be silent. Instantly, Aragorn was alert, if not fully awake. He probed the darkness around them for any sign of danger, but heard nothing.

Nothing. Not even the sound of the crickets or nighttime birds. The out of doors should never be this dead silent.

Aragorn scrambled quietly to his feet, looking around warily. "What’s out there?" he breathed quietly, knowing Legolas could hear his faintest whispers.

"I don’t know," Legolas shook his head. "But we’re not safe here, come on."

Aragorn followed the elf without question, trusting to Legolas’ knowledge of his own woods. They pushed silently through the nearly pitch black forest and for all his trained skill, Aragorn had no idea which direction they were going. He could see nothing but the faint outline of Legolas in front of him.

Suddenly that too disappeared and Aragorn stopped in his tracks. "Legolas?" he whispered. "Legolas!"

"Shh!" the voice came from above him as Legolas popped his head down, hanging onto a tree branch above Aragorn’s head. "Come, we’ll be safer up here tonight," the elf beckoned the ranger to follow before swinging farther up into the tree.

"Right. No problem," Aragorn murmured somewhat sarcastically as he grabbed the branch above his head and pulled himself up. Aragorn climbed slowly up to where Legolas waited for him. By now he knew better than to compare himself to elves. He could never match their speed, agility or grace. Growing up with them had taught him that and he did not particularly care that his own assent was somewhat slower and more clumsy than his friend’s had been.

High above the ground, two thick branches crossed, one on top of the other, forming a slanted v with each other and the tree truck. Legolas sat easily in the groove, his back against the tree trunk, one knee bent, the other dangling freely over the side of the branch.

"Trouble?" he inquired when Aragorn dropped down heavily in front of him.

"No," the young ranger shook his head with another yawn. "I love being woken out of a dead sleep to climb trees in the pitch black. It’s such fun."

Legolas laughed quietly, then hushed his friend once more. Beneath them they heard a menacing growl and the rustle of bodies moving low to the ground.

"Wargs," Legolas said with a disgusted look. "We must be further south than I thought."

Aragorn nodded in the blackness, suddenly glad for the distance between themselves and the hunting beasts below. "They can’t climb trees, we’re safe up here," he breathed with some relief.

"Yes, from everything but spiders," Legolas said glibly. Casting his friend a wicked glance that Aragorn could not see in the dark.

Aragorn sighed. "Did I tell you how much..."

"You don’t like this place?" Legolas interrupted with a grin. "Yes. Several times. I begin to think you are a most ungracious guest in my home. Now get some sleep or you’ll be intolerable tomorrow. I know how you humans are about that."

Aragorn rolled his eyes, stifling another weary yawn. "Sure, just curl up and fall asleep right here."

Legolas nodded matter-of-factly. "Of course."

Aragorn did not protest, but leaned back against the branch behind him and attempted to rest, but he was too tense and could not seem to forget the long drop beneath them. The branches they rested on were entirely too thin for his comfort, although they certainly seemed to be proving sturdy enough. His sleep was fitful and every time he started to doze off he felt as if the floor had dropped out from under him and he was falling... falling... only to jerk awake when his body tensed up from the dream.

After a half hour of listening to the young ranger jerk, turn and fidget on the branch next to him Legolas had had enough. "Come on Strider, come over here."

Aragorn gave a muffled grunt that was supposed to be some kind of answer but it came across more like the sound one might get if they poked a cranky bear who was somewhere between hibernation and waking.

"Come on," Legolas persisted, half dragging the human closer to him. Positioning Aragorn in front of him he pulled the young man’s head back against his shoulder, wrapping his arms securely around his friend’s chest.

"What’re you doing?" Aragorn slurred sleepily.

"Ensuring that I get a little peace tonight and can hear something other than you jerking all night long," Legolas said lightly as he pushed Aragorn’s head to the side a little more so that the ranger’s hair was not in the elf’s face. "Now rest. Rest..."

And Aragorn did rest. Secure in Legolas’ grip he did not stir again until dawn began to frost the trees in milky-golden light. Only because they were high up amid the treetops could they even see the breaking dawn. Down on the forest floor no glimmering trace of its radiance could penetrate the perpetual twilight that held sway over these parts of Mirkwood.

When Aragorn awoke he was not entirely sure where he was, but he quickly became aware that a pair of strong, slender arms was wrapped securely around his waist. He stirred and started to pull away automatically.

Legolas tightened his grip slightly until he was sure that Aragorn was all the way awake. "Easy my friend, it’s a long drop down if you get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

Aragorn remembered where they were then and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before moving away with more caution. "You didn’t wake me," he semi-accused as he glanced at the growing light filtering in through the canopy of leaves about them. "You were supposed to wake me for the second watch."

Legolas shrugged, stretching the stiffness out of his arms and back that had accumulated from supporting Aragorn all night. "You were sleeping so peacefully, and you seem to need so much more rest than I do."

"Legolas," Aragorn’s gaze was serious. "You don’t have to take care of me. I can take care of myself and I can pull my own weight. I know I must seem like a child to you, but I’m *not*."

Legolas smiled at his friend, but his eyes were serious this time as well. "I know, Aragorn. But neither do you have to do *everything* on your own. Pride only serves you so far Strider." He grinned lightly then. "So, do you want to race to the bottom of the tree?" It was a slight barb and Aragorn knew it. Legolas was well aware that he could move faster through the tree tops than the human could.

Aragorn turned a devilish grin upon his friend. "Beat you there!" Without stopping to think about it another moment, he swung off the branch he was sitting on, catching it with his hands and allowing himself free-swing for a moment before letting go and dropping straight to the ground, far below them.

"Aragorn!" Legolas shouted in concern, so surprised he didn’t move fast enough to catch or stop his friend’s impulsive act.

Aragorn landed sure-footed, dropping into a crouch to absorb the impact of his landing. He was standing and leaning against the base of the tree when Legolas made it down a few moments later, dropping lightly to the earth from a slightly saner jumping-off spot a few branches up.

"What kept you?" the young ranger couldn’t help saying carelessly when his friend turned worried, irritated eyes upon him.

"That was foolish Aragorn! You could have broken your neck," Legolas chided, having been more frightened for a few moments than he liked to admit.

"I won," Aragorn pointed out. "You were beaten by a human and *you* don’t want to admit it."

Legolas rolled his eyes. "What did I do to deserve you?" he asked in exasperation. "I’m out here trying to save *your* hide and your reputation and you have nothing better to do than nearly kill yourself with crazy stunts like that!"

Aragorn just grinned infuriatingly, the kind of grin that usually guaranteed a scrap if Elladan and Elrohir had been around. Fortunately for the young human, Legolas was slightly more reserved with him than his adopted brothers were.

Legolas just threw his hands up in defeat and turned away with a half-stifled laugh. "I give up. You are hopeless Strider."

Aragorn had to jog to catch up with the Prince. "So what do we do now? How can we prove anything way out here?"

"I thought you had all the answers for everything," Legolas eyed him from the corner of his vision. A deep ravine slanted downward before them.

"Come on Legolas, I’m being serious," Aragorn shook his head.

"So am I," the elf prince returned with a sigh as the two of them picked their way down a rocky path along one side of the ravine. "We’re going to have to go back... but that may be easier said than done."

"All right, so we go back, and then what?" the young ranger pressed as they circumvented a large knot of tree roots.

"I haven’t figured that out yet," Legolas said bluntly. "Have you?"

"Not yet," Aragorn admitted. He really hadn’t expected Legolas to have any answers for him, he had just hoped...

Legolas stopped and caught his friend’s eyes with a reassuring smile. "Don’t worry Aragorn, we’re going to get this worked out."

The young ranger nodded slowly and smiled back.

Several moments of silence followed as the two friends made their way down the north face of the ravine, along a small, forgotten trail that wound slowly downward.

"Legolas?" Aragorn’s voice broke the stillness as they gained the bottom of the ravine. "Are you sure this is the way back?"

Legolas did not answer, but pushed past a ledge of sweeping vines.

"Legolas?" Aragorn’s concern mounted quickly.

"No I’m not sure, is that what you want to hear?" Legolas responded somewhat testily as he looked around them. It was not easy for him to admit to being turned around in these woods, but he had never been in this area before and their trip in the dark last night had not helped matters.

Aragorn’s eyes widened. "We’re lost?"

"No, we’re not lost," Legolas assured. "There’s a stream down here, you see?" he pointed to a broad, swift-flowing brook that cut its way through the dark, tangled undergrowth of the ravine. "Now it’s got to be going to meet up with the Forest River, if we follow it we’ll reach the river and can easily find our way from there."

"In other words, we’re lost. I never heard of an elf getting lost before." Aragorn ventured unwisely, not quite suppressing his grin enough.

"And I on the other hand have heard plenty of stories about how young rangers disappear in these woods without a trace," Legolas said pointedly with a thin smile.

Aragorn wisely chose to shut up.

"If you hadn’t been so busy trying to kill yourself this morning and looked around in the daylight," Legolas said after a few moments as they forged deeper into the shadowy depths of the ravine. "You would have been able to see the far distant shape of empty black towers." Of course, without elven vision it was doubtful that Aragorn would have been able to see anything.

Aragorn sobered immediately, not having realized that they were that far south. "Dol Guldor?"

Legolas nodded. "Not quite a hundred miles to the south. My people do not venture in this area Strider, or at least not often. I have not been this far south in Mirkwood in more than a thousand years. And I do not believe I have ever been in this area before, or if I was it looked significantly different."

The elf prince stopped short, reaching for his bow. "There’s something here..."

~*PART FIVE*~

Suddenly something whizzed by Aragorn’s head and hit the tree next to him with a sticky splat. The young ranger jumped back. He had just enough time to notice the thick, rope-like strand that seemed to have suddenly become affixed to the tree in front of him before another sticky rope shot through the air towards them.

"Spiders!" Legolas spat, whipping off several arrows faster than thought. Two big, black-bodied beasts fell to the ground not far away, their eight hideous legs still twitching, but there was no abatement in the hail of webs being thrown at the two friends.

Aragorn drew his sword quickly, and looked up. What he saw there froze the blood in his veins. The treetops above them, in front of them, behind them and on either side seemed to be alive with spiders. Huge black bodies swarmed over the branches like ants on an ant hill, their wicked, glowing eyes fixed on the two friends who had just become their prey. He couldn’t even begin to count their number, not that he felt particularly inclined to try.

Legolas continued to fire at point blank range into the mass of swarming insects as he and Aragorn retreated quickly back and sideways, looking for a chance to escape. Unfortunately, retreating didn’t do much good as the enemy had them completely surrounded.

One spider dropped down onto Aragorn’s back and the young ranger bent over sharply, flinging the arachnid off and dispatching it with a quick sword-thrust.

"I thought you told me these things only attacked stragglers!" Aragorn said breathlessly as he sliced through a web that wrapped around his leg and thrust upward into the belly of a spider that attempted to drop down onto their heads.

"And what do you think we are?" Legolas shot back distractedly, dropping spiders out of the treetops as quickly as he could; yet more just kept coming.

The sticky cords were flying around them like unraveled nets now and the air was thick with spider chatter. The two friends quickly realized that the spiders were busy at work in the trees around them, webbing them in. The ugly beasts had already spread their thick webs between the tree trunks on every side and were working quickly to turn the webbing into a prison in which to hold their prey captive until they brought them down.

"They’re hedging us in, we’ve got to get out of here!" Aragorn said with no small amount of alarm.

Legolas nodded quickly, his own breath beginning to come a little short. "I’ve never seen so many at one time!" he said, slightly wide-eyed as he fitted yet another arrow across his bow strings. He was running dangerously low and his quiver was nearly empty. "We must have stumbled upon some sort of nest!"

"Pleasant thought," Aragorn mumbled, slashing sideways at a spider that swung down towards Legolas’ head. He had noticed something about their attackers and quickly leaned closer to his friend.

"Legolas look, the spiders have gotten so intent on their wall building that the path to the east has cleared a little," Aragorn whispered hurriedly, not wanting the spiders to hear them.

Legolas quickly understood his friend’s mind. "We make a break that way and try to get out of this ravine. On three."

Aragorn nodded.

"One..." Aragorn and Legolas stood back to back, fending off the massive onslaught of the spiders.

"Two..." The spiders seemed to sense something was up and pressed their attack closer, harder.

"Three!" The two friends broke left at the same time, bursting through the spiders’ unguarded east flank. The creatures had woven a sturdy wall, and it took two or three blows from Aragorn’s sword to cut the thick webbing while Legolas covered their retreat.

They stepped through the pathway they had made, but Aragorn’s sword was tangled in the sticky webbing he had just sliced and he had to yank it free. At that moment three of the spiders dropped down from the trees above. One landed on Aragorn’s back, trying to get at the human’s neck, and the other two hung from their threads, spinning around him and pinning his arms to his sides with their strong webs. The young ranger tried to break free and move his arms but he couldn’t, the spider silk had done its job in a most horribly effective manner.

Legolas unsheathed his knives, one in either hand, and skewered the spider on his friend’s back before it could sink its pincers into Aragorn’s unprotected neck. At the same moment a sweep with the knife in his other hand cut the web of one of the dangling spiders and the prince kicked the beast as it fell, sending it skittering away from them. Legolas cut Aragorn’s arms free as the third spider rounded on them again.

Because the spiders could move completely silently when they wanted to they were able to keep the upper hand in the battle, not making themselves known until they wanted to. Distracted by the battle at hand, not even Legolas heard the spiders crawling up the tree behind him.

Without warning four more of the beasts dropped down silently from above. Two of them slammed into Legolas’ back, causing the archer to stumble forward. The others joined the one that was still alive, trying to wrap Aragorn up in their webs again.

Legolas had no time to fight, to react. As the spiders bore him to the ground he instantly felt the burning sting of the topmost spider’s bite sink into the side of his neck. The elf stumbled to his knees under the onslaught, feeling the spider’s venom course into his veins, making his vision blur and his head swim.

Reaching over his shoulder and grabbing the beast by the legs, Legolas yanked the spider off his back, throwing it to the ground and pinning it there with a quick blow from one of his knives. The other spider was trying to get its pincers into him too, and another dropped down from the trees, attempting to pin his arms and his legs in its web.

Aragorn dispatched the last of the beasts intent on binding him up and had a moment to turn towards his friend. The look on Legolas’ face frightened him. The elf was very pale and the prince’s usually quick movements were slowed.

Quickly diving into the fray, Aragorn skewered the spider on its thread and hacked the one on Legolas’ back in half. Grabbing the prince’s arm he half helped, half dragged the elf to his feet. Legolas gripped Aragorn’s arm tightly for balance as they scrambled away from the spiders, being forced deeper and deeper into the ravine.

Aragorn didn’t have time to ask if his friend was all right because in a matter of moments both of them were running as fast as they could with the swarm of angry, seething, chattering spiders chasing after them. The beasts cut off any hope of making it back out the way they had come and the two friends were quickly being forced farther into the spider’s territory.

Legolas fought the venom that was working on him and forced his body to move and respond to the situation at hand. It was a battle he knew he could not win for very long.

Suddenly the earth was slanting downward and they found themselves splashing into the edge of the stream. They paused for a moment, considering the broad body of water before them. Legolas leaned lightly against Aragorn’s shoulder, letting his hand rest on the young human’s back. He hated to show weakness, but at this point he could hardly help it.

Aragorn felt his friend’s rapid breathing against his neck and ear and knew that for whatever reason, Legolas was in trouble. They couldn’t run anymore, there were spiders ahead of them as well as behind... Thinking quickly, Aragorn grabbed Legolas’ arm and waded out into the middle of the stream. The water was swift and the current pulled at them, but rather than attempting to cross, Aragorn turned with his back to the current and started traveling swiftly downstream with Legolas following.

The spiders swarmed the banks on either side, but the stream was wide enough that no trees directly overhung the middle of it and the spiders would not venture out into the rushing water.

The river rose up to the two friends’ waists, and the current became fierce, hurrying them along even faster than they were already going and trying to pull their feet out from under them. Suddenly the ground dropped out beneath them as the stream deepened and it pulled the two of them under. The rough current easily carried them along, and away from the spiders.

When they finally were far enough downstream for it to be safe to exit the river again they did and quickly made their way out of the treacherous ravine. Once again dripping as they made their way through the trees, Aragorn wrung the water from his shirt and shook his head.

"Why does it always have to be water?" he mumbled at having been soaked twice in as many days. The young ranger turned to say something to his friend, only to find that Legolas had stopped some distance behind him and was leaning against a tree, apparently trying to catch his breath. He quickly made his way back to his friend. "Legolas, what’s wrong?"

"Spider venom," Legolas said simply, pulling his shirt away from his neck enough for Aragorn to see the nasty red, swollen flesh where the spider had bitten him. Blood from where the spider’s fangs had been torn out when he yanked the beast free ran down the side of his neck.

Aragorn’s eyes grew very large as he gently touched the injury. His fingers came away red with the prince’s blood. Then, suddenly, as if things couldn’t get any worse, they both heard the sound of approaching riders. Away through the trees on their right they glimpsed a party of elf warriors and Aragorn swore silently. This was just great. This was the last thing they needed right now. Aragorn quickly turned, his hand coming to rest against the tree next to them and unintentionally leaving Legolas’ blood behind on the smooth bark.

Legolas had seen the riders as well. Urgently tugging on Aragorn’s sleeve he pulled him back, behind some fallen logs where they would be less easily discovered. The riders passed by, but stopped not three hundred yards away. The rustle of light footfalls told that they had dismounted.

Aragorn knew it would only be a matter of minutes until the elves picked up their trail. They had to move and move fast.

Edging quietly out of their hiding place, the two friends crept away silently, taking cover under the craggy face of a rock outcropping that rose up sharply on their left. Behind them they heard voices. Their trail had been picked up by the other elves! They may not be able to hear the elves’ quite approach, but Aragorn knew they must not be far behind them now.

Dimly, Legolas realized that he recognized the area they were in. But that did not help him much as the spider poison began to grab hold of him in earnest. He could hear the rustle of his people, growing steadily closer as they honed in on the two fugitives’ position. He tried to move faster, but his body betrayed him and his clumsy limbs refused to obey his urgency.

The elf prince stumbled as he followed Aragorn, the toxins in his system beginning to overwhelm him at last. He knew he would be fine if he could just get somewhere safe and relax. The spider’s venom was not poisonous in itself, it merely drugged the victim into a coma like sleep, slowing down the autonomous systems while keeping the prey alive until the spider was ready to eat. In a few hours he would be okay except for the annoying side effect of a horrible headache that the poison left as its marker.

However, Legolas knew they had to get to safety before the drug overtook him or they would both be caught.

"This way! Legolas quickly!" Aragorn caught at the elf’s tunic and drug the prince with him to the entrance of dark foreboding cave he had spotted. Its opening looked like the maw of some creature half buried in the dank woods. Water dripped from the rock protrusions near the entrance and echoes of cascading condensation could be heard deep within its’ dark depths.

Aragorn ran into the cavern, looking about wildly for a place to hide from the elves that chased them. The inside of the cave was spacious, its moist, gravelly floor dotted with odd rocky formations that grew from the ground, twisted and warped by years of wind and water. The stalagmites dripped with the fog that seemed to live in the dank cave, wrapping itself around the bases of the columns and shifting around his ankles as he walked deeper into the hollow.

It took a moment for the ranger to realize that Legolas was not following him. Had the poison taken effect and caused him to pass out? Frantically he raced back into the entryway to find the elf frozen in fear, staring blankly into the darkness.

"Legolas?" Aragorn approached the prince cautiously. "What’s wrong? We need to get out of view. They are coming, can’t you hear them?" When the elf didn’t respond he pressed him, "Are you all right?"

The elf could indeed hear their pursuers and the soft sounds of the approaching elves heightened his panic but he was unable to move as memories long forgotten and repressed slammed into his awareness cutting through the fog of the spider’s poison.

"We cannot go in there. He lives here." Legolas words were a mere whisper and Aragorn looked about them searching for the source of his friends distress.

"No one is here Legolas."

"Yes they are. They live here." The elf’s eyes were wide as he searched the interior of the cavern with his gaze, he remembered just such a place, "You just do not realize that you are looking at them. They see you though." He grabbed the human and tried to pull the man back with him

Aragorn took the elf’s face in his hand and redirected Legolas’ horrified gaze until the prince was staring into the ranger’s eyes.

Legolas trembled slightly under Aragorn’s touch and he grabbed the man’s overcoat, trying to steady himself as the drug took hold of his autonomous system, his hands balled into fists gripping the worn leather.

"You don’t understand." He had to make his friend understand, he couldn’t go past those stalagmites. In his drugged state, with his senses heightened, he couldn’t overcome the fear of the memories embedded in his mind. "I have seen them, I know what they will do to you."

"There is no one here." Aragorn was desperate, he needed to get through to the elf and fast, he could hear their pursuers approaching. He realized the drug was wreaking havoc in the prince’s system but he had no choice but to press the elf farther into the cave despite his fears. "Legolas look at me. Look at me!" He shook the prince gently to get his attention, "I will not let anyone hurt you. But we must go deeper into the cave. And we need to go now."

Legolas eyes grew wider if that were possible, his pupils were huge in the darkness and Aragorn wondered if it was partly from the poison. "We have to go."

The prince started to resist and Aragorn leaned forward, resting his forehead against his friends, breathing in deep breaths to calm himself and clear his mind, his frustration threatening to overwhelm him, as he tried to understand the elf’s fears. The contact stilled the prince and he relaxed against the man.

"Trust me." He spoke the words in elvish, "Trust me Legolas. I will not hurt you and neither will they. I will see to it." He stepped back and looked into the wide, terrified eyes.

The elf watched him, swallowing hard as he glanced behind the ranger into the depths of the cave. A shudder shook his whole frame as stared through the darkness, fears too deep to reason with fought for his loyalty. In the end his trust of the Dùnadan won out and with a slight nod he complied.

It was all Aragorn needed. He grabbed the elf and turned him towards the back of the cave, leading him deeper into the ominous hole. He felt Legolas’ light touch on his shoulder as they stepped past the first of the oddly shaped stone pillars, but he did not stop, allowing the elf the contact he needed as Aragorn led them away from the elves that were hunting them.

"Elves were not made for caves human." The sound of the voice echoed oddly in the large cavern and Aragorn pressed himself against a rock formation, grabbing Legolas and pulling the elf in front of him, out of the line of sight.

The ranger heard the soft crunch of footfall on the moist sandy floor. The distant drip of unseen water and his own breathing were the only other sounds. Legolas leaned hard against him as the drugs overpowered him and he began to lose consciousness. Aragorn hoped that he was in no danger, he was not familiar with how the spider’s venom worked within an elf’s system, but this side effect was ill-timed.

Slowly and as quietly as possible, he eased Legolas down onto the ground. He was partly thankful the elf was unconscious; whatever had happened to him the last time he had been in a cave like this must have been horrific. The ranger knelt next to the elf prince and pressed his fingers against his neck, checking his pulse. It was definitely slowed but steady; he was relaxed, simply put to sleep by the toxins. With a quick nod to himself Aragorn moved away from their hiding place and circled the large cavern.

Three elves had entered; he counted five more outside. They were all tense, watching the forests around them as though expecting someone at any moment. Aragorn recognized Raniean and Trelan among those that had entered the cave. Raniean shifted quietly nearer to the Dùnadan’s hiding place. If they got too close to where he had left Legolas, Aragorn would need to be ready.

~*PART SIX*~

"We know you are in here." Trelan called out, scanning the immediate area, trying to find any clue as to the whereabouts of the fugitives.

"We mean to help you Strider!" Raniean stepped back next to the rock column that Aragorn had concealed himself behind, "We have provisions. We know the prince is wounded, we saw his blood on the tree, we have medicines, we want to help you!"

The ranger pressed back against the stalagmite weighing the new information and wondering if they were telling him the truth. Raniean had never treated him like the other elves, even when the warrior had been unsure about Legolas bringing the wounded ranger home when they first met.

Moving more stealthily than a human should know how, he rounded the rocky formation and stepped up behind the elf. He kicked the warrior’s feet out from underneath him and pinned the tall elf to the floor of the cave by kneeling on his chest, his knee just pressing into the man’s sternum.

When the others saw Raniean felled they ran to his aide but Strider pulled his sword and held it flat against the elfs neck, "Tell them to go back. I just want to talk to you."

Raniean didn’t answer. He was angry, angry with himself for being bested by a human and angry with the ranger for knowing his weaknesses and using them against him. The man was more resourceful than he had given him credit for.

Aragorn leaned down slightly, pressing his knee harder under the elf’s rib cage. Raniean grunted with the pressure and motioned with his hand for the other warriors to back off.

When they had sufficiently moved far enough away, the man leapt off the elf and helped him rise to his feet. Raniean accepted the help easily as he rose gracefully, trying to regain his breath and his dignity.

"You of all the elves have never lied to me. If you have started now I’ll kill you." Aragorn threatened the tall warrior standing in front of him. He continued when the elf did not speak, "Legolas has been bitten by a spider and he is hallucinating. I have hidden him in the cave. Did you really come to help us?"

"You should not have brought him in here." Raniean looked around the spacious interior, the floor was littered with rocky formations, "Legolas has had encounters with the Gondrauko. They resemble the stalagmites that grow naturally in here."

"The Gondrauko?" Aragorn repeated the foreign word.

"Great, hideous creatures of the ancient world. They were imprisoned by the prince’s ancestors, and with the help of the ruler of Dorolyn they sought his blood to free them from their bondage. They have been destroyed many centuries now, but their memory is dark, for they were wholly evil."

"Doroyln." Strider spoke the one word as the curse it was.

"Yes but do not speak of it again. What I have told you, I have told you in confidence to prove to you that you can trust me." Raniean looked around them and motioned his men back. "We truly have come with supplies and with aid. We believe you to be innocent and the prince is in danger. We do not agree with the king’s edict to not give you aid or assistance."

"That must put you in bad favor with him?" Aragorn began walking back to where Legolas lay, leading the warriors farther into the cave, "How do you suppose to keep it from him, what you are doing?"

Raniean smiled, "We are on a hunting trip. We will be gone for several days and needed many supplies." The elf followed the Dùnadan to the back side of a large formation and watched as the man dropped next to the unconscious prince.

"Will he be all right?" Aragorn looked back up worriedly at the elves ringing him, "Will he live?"

Trelan smiled and the gesture was actually warm and friendly. Lightly the smaller elf dropped next to the ranger and reached out towards Legolas, checking the elf’s pulse. "Spider bites in themselves are not deadly Strider."

He turned his attention to Raniean and the warrior that accompanied him, nodding to them both and raising to his feet as they lifted the unconscious prince between them. Trelan helped the human stand and pushed him gently out of the way as the elves maneuvered carefully back out of the cave.

"The deadly part is the spider! The toxins work in your system to slow everything down until the victim is in a coma like state. That way you are kept alive until the spider wants to eat you." He laughed at the way Aragorn’s eyes widen at his explanation. "The problem is," Trelan continued as he led the ranger out of the cave after the other, "that as your system is being depressed your senses are heightened so you feel everything that is happening to you. And that is probably why the prince’s memories were so vivid and clear."

"He was very upset." Aragorn watched as the elves gently laid Legolas down outside.

"I can imagine he was." Trelan moved off to help the others, "The fact that he let you take him this deeply into the cave says something of his trust of you Strider." The elf smiled and hailed the warriors who were quietly talking about their next move.

Raniean split from group and approached the ranger. "We will take you back to our camp. We can hide you easily there."

"No one will be suspicious?"

"We are too far south to be followed at this point and no one will suspect that we have come to aid you." The elf looked at the ground for a moment, guilt overwhelming him at his next words, "We made sure that no one would doubt our hatred of you or your kind before we left."

Aragorn stared at the warrior. He knew the necessity of covering the hunting party’s intentions but the slander still ached and his face burned from the shame of it.

"It is not how we feel but we had to make sure we wouldn’t be followed or under suspicion." Raniean held his hands out imploring the human to understand.

Aragorn lifted his gaze from the forest floor and looked up into the tall elf’s eyes. Everything the warrior had said was true and he could sense it as he stared at the elf. The ranger nodded his head in understand, "It’s all right. I understand. It’s better for you and us."

"When this is over and you are publicly cleared, our true feelings will be made known."

A half smile touched Aragorn’s lips, but he truly wondered at the elf’s words. By the time they were cleared no elf in Mirkwood would truly be the man’s friend, even if they honestly believed him not guilty. He wondered how long it would be before they really trusted him. "Thank you for coming for us. I am glad for the help with Legolas. The spider bite really had me worried." He passed off the elf’s admission and easily changed the subject as they headed back to camp.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Legolas awoke it was to a terrific headache and blurred vision. He could tell it was night and he was near a fire. That in itself was odd... the only time a fire was wise as far south as they were was when there was a group of elves present.

The sounds of conversation and laughing startled him. Listening closer he found he recognized several of the elven voices conversing with Aragorn. Looking about him, he tried to focus; noting that they seemed to be in a makeshift camp for the night, but how they had gotten here was beyond his recall. His memory was vague, he could only remember following Aragorn as they ran through the forest trying to evade capture.

A shout of laughter rocked the camp and the elf’s attention was redirected to the present. Confusion overtook him and he wondered at this turn of events. Had he and Aragorn been caught and taken captive, the thought ran fleetingly through his mind and yet he was not bound.

Rolling over carefully he stared across the fire at the ranger. Aragorn was laughing so hard there were tears streaming down his face. He was trying to get himself under control but every time he had just about achieved normal breathing the snicker of an elf would send him off again. The human’s mirth amused the elves and they egged him on mercilessly.

"You shouldn’t have told him that there is no such thing as Trellep hunting, Raniean," Trelan laughed glaring at the warrior, "I almost had him there."

"I couldn’t let you take him out there and tie him up," Raniean glanced around into the darkness feigning fear, "we are in southern forest you nift! The spiders would have gotten him!"

"That is not funny!" Aragorn’s eyes widen much to the amusement of his companions.

"Ah," Trelan waved the danger off, "I wouldn’t have left him out there *that* long."

Aragorn gaped at the elf, finally having caught his breath, "Oh thank you so much. Your thoughtfulness is overwhelming."

This only sent the elves into another fit of laughter. Legolas was hopelessly confused. They were in the presence of his elven brothers and yet they were free and Aragorn was enjoying himself.

Carefully the prince pushed himself up on one elbow to get a better look. The movement caught the human’s attention and he was on his feet in moments, skirting the elves seated next to the fire. As he passed Trelan he smacked the elf lightly upside his head.

"Don’t you know it’s not nice to tease the human?" He smiled wickedly at the helplessly laughing elf, "I’ll get you for that you know."

Raniean’s booming laughter answered the threat and he pointed at the small elf, "You had better watch it. A human is going to get you."

Aragorn smiled and stifled his laughter as the elves began taunting one another.

He knelt down next to Legolas and smiled into the bleary confused eyes.

"How do you feel?" His voice was soft and low but he knew the elf prince could hear him.

"What is going on Strider?" Legolas glanced behind the human as Raniean rose from his seated position and moved to join the ranger, "Are we safe?" He reached out and steadied himself with one hand resting lightly on the ranger’s shoulder.

"Yes my lord," it was Raniean who answered him, "You are safe."

"I don’t understand."

Another burst of laughter erupted behind them and the warrior glanced back curiously, a grin spreading across his face.

Aragorn seated himself next to Legolas and helped the prince into a sitting position, placing a steaming cup of mead in his hands. "Raniean and his men have been hunting us."

Legolas shot the warrior an intense look but the elf quickly put him at ease, "To help you my lord. We don’t believe the Dùnadan killed Sar and we want to help you prove it."

Turning to the man Legolas eyed him carefully, "Are you all right? I heard them speak of tying you up outside the camp. What is happening?" He trusted Raniean but he wanted to make sure the others had been treating him well.

Aragorn ducked his head hiding a smile, "Well they wanted to take me out hunting."

"No, my lord *we* did not." Raniean glanced at the ring of elves that had suddenly taken an acute interest in their conversation, "It was Trelan."

The guilty elf’s eyes grew huge and he sputtered as the warriors around him teased him. Legolas had not found the humor in the situation and his headache was irritating him. He frowned at the elf warrior next to him but Aragorn came to his defense.

He touched the elf lightly redirecting the princes attention, "No it’s all right Legolas. Trelan offered to take me Trellep hunting." Snickers from the elves behind him caused his cheeks to redden even though he smiled in spite of himself. "And of course I was more than eager to go with him." He rolled his eyes at his own naivety. "Raniean here saved me."

At the admission the camp erupted in laughter. With the tension lightened and his friend obviously well taken care of the elf prince smiled and shook his head, "Strider!" He smiled at the young man, wrapping his hand around the back of the human’s head he pulled him forward staring seriously into the dark eyes, "You do know there is no such thing as a Trellep?"

Aragorn dropped his gaze, trying not to laugh while he nodded in answer. "Raniean explained it to me."

"And" Trelan butted in, "Raniean also told him about the time he took *you* Trellep hunting!"

"Trelan!" Raniean whirled around, his eyes wide.

Aragorn looked up at Legolas and said quietly, "He said you shot your father?"

Legolas grimaced, closing his eyes at the rehashed story, "In the foot! Raniean had left me out there for five hours when my father heard and came to find me. I thought he was a Trellep and shot him, but it was in the foot." When the human started laughing uncontrollably the elf prince shoved the man back and glared at the others trying to affect an air of seriousness, "You need to find new stories to tell!"

As Aragorn regained his balance h