Lord Of The Rings Fan Fiction ❯ Happy Easter Legolas ❯ The Formation of an Unlikely Bond ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8

The Formation of an Unlikely Bond

Zavion was tired, so tired that he just wanted to lay down right where he was and go to sleep for a hundred years. He cursed himself yet again for allowing Harlthon to trick him into taking three shifts in a row. Elves could go for five or six days easily without sleep but Zavion had barely had time to recover from the last time Harlthon had tricked him into doing three shifts in a row or the time before that.

Had he been more alert, he would have noticed to silent shadow creeping up behind him. Stars suddenly exploded before his eyes, he heard the sound of a muttered apology before his world went dark.

* * *

Thranduil sighed as he bound Zavion. He knew that because of his little statue and short temper, the younger elf often allowed himself to get into trouble. As it was, Thranduil had warned the elf not to be fooled by anyone into taking more then one shift at a time but it appeared that it had happened again and this time it was three in a row by the looks of it. Zavion had very good hearing even for an elf and normally no one could sneak up behind him which proved to Thranduil that the elf was indeed, too tired to accurately listen to his surroundings.

Once he had bound Zavion the King carefully put the young warrior into a storeroom in the main passage way. Then, he turned and headed back to the side hallway where Zavion had been guarding twenty cells, only one of which was occupied. On silent elven feet, Thranduil crept towards a large hook on the wall. He retrieved the keys from the hook and then moved towards the occupied cell.

During all this time, his mind was cursing him angrily. Why in Middle Earth had he decided to take this course of action? Surely, it was perhaps the most foolish course. Yet, the problem lay in the fact that Thranduil could not bring an army thundering up to Elrond's door. As a result, he could neither take an escort because such a small number would not be enough to deal with any problems that may occur and Thranduil certainly trusted no one but himself to deliver the twins and get his own son back unharmed. Besides all this, Thranduil felt that this was all his responsibility. If he had not gotten involved with the Noldor in the first place and listened to Legolas then none of this ever would have happened. Now, it was up to him and so help anyone who got in his way.

As quietly as possible, Thranduil unlocked the door and peered inside. He winced slightly as he caught sight of the dim outline of the twins leaning against each other in the back left hand corner of the cell. Both of the twins looked terrible with pale skin beneath all the filth, tattered clothing which barely covered them and dark circles beneath their eyes. The twins were sound asleep with their eyes firmly shut, a definite sign that they were exhausted.

The twin on Thranduil's left stirred slightly and cracked open one dull grey eye. He opened the other as he realised that the elf standing in the doorway was not one of the normal elves that came to feed him. Thranduil silently approached the twin and with drew his hood. The youngster blinked, clearly surprised to see Thranduil.

`You better not come any closer,' he said and pulled his brother closer to him, clearly trying to protect him from Thranduil. He certainly remembered this elf and how he had drugged him and then put he and his brother in the cell they were currently in. He didn't care if Thranduil was Legolas' father; he didn't trust the elf one bit.

Thranduil held up his hands in a sign of peace. `I mean you no harm young one,' he said quietly. The youngster eyed Thranduil suspiciously but made no move to stop the elf coming any closer. Thranduil knelt in front of the twins and quickly accessed their state of health. Neither looked too bad, nothing a little fresh air, sunshine and bed rest couldn't fix.

`What do you want,' asked the twin bravely. `I have decided to return you to your father,' replied Thranduil softly. The elfling blinked in surprise. `But I thought Ada was locked up too,' he exclaimed. Thranduil gave an irritated sigh as he began trying various key in an attempt to unlock the single manacle each twin had around one of their wrists. `He was,' responded Thranduil scowling. `Unfortunately he escaped and took Legolas with him back to Rivendell.'

The twin smiled impishly, `I guess he wants to do a trade right?' Thranduil eyed the youngster sternly as he realised that the twin was certainly very bright. His brother stirred and groaned suddenly as he awoke. `El,' he mumbled. `I feel like a pack of trolls has just chased me for days of end.' He opened his eyes and yawned. The other twin chuckled at his brother's remark.

The awakening twin suddenly tensed as he realised Thranduil was right in front of him and trying to remove his brother's manacle. He noticed that his own had already been removed but that didn't stop him from scooting backwards a little.

`What do you want?' he asked, mirroring his brother's earlier question. Thranduil rolled his eyes in irritation. `I'm sure your brother can tell you …?' He left the words hanging. `Elrohir,' replied the twin who had just woken. Thranduil nodded and with a faint click, at last managed to remove the manacle from Elladan's wrist. The twin winced and rubbed his raw wrist then stood up.

`It'd be my pleasure for you to escort my brother and I back to Rivendell,' he proclaimed and bowed extravagantly. His brother followed suit and Thranduil just stared in shock at the pair of them. He positively glowered when he realised that the twins had only been joking. Once a Noldor elf, always a Noldor elf.

Deciding to ignore the twins, Thranduil stood and then led the youngsters out of the cell, motioning for them to be silent. As quiet as any mouse, the three of them crept through the palace, Thranduil leading them through the most unused corridors and passages he knew. They had several close shaves and were nearly found out a few times but at last they managed to creep outside and Thranduil led them to the stables.

The twins followed quietly, sharing some secret sort of conversation, which they obviously found rather amusing as one twin would giggle occasionally and then the other would immediately shush him. Thranduil selected his largest and swiftest horse, a young colt known as Foxy due to his red coloured coat.

Quickly he saddled and mounted Foxy then pulled the twins up so that one sat in front and the other behind him. Thranduil then opened his pack, which he had secured to the saddle and pulled out two of his shirts. He passed one to Elladan who sat in front of him and then one to Elrohir who sat behind and instructed the twins to put them on. They did so and quietly said thank you.

Thranduil didn't reply as he nudged Foxy into a trot and directed him out of the stables. Quietly they slipped through the gardens surrounding the palace and then out the very same side door Thranduil had used when perhaps this whole entire adventure had begun.

* * *

Thranduil and the twins made good time over the next few days and much to Thranduil's surprise, he rather enjoyed the company of the twins. Though they were both still a little tired, the twins were greatly revived by the good weather that appeared to be dominating the skies.

`So Sour Puss,' said Elladan using the nickname he had given Thranduil. The King rolled his eyes and pointedly ignored the youngster who was actually sitting behind him that morning. The twin had given the name to Thranduil because he had difficulty pronouncing his name and since Thranduil more often than not appeared to be wearing a rather sour expression, well, he concluded that it made sense. Elrohir had no difficulty saying Thranduil's name but he too had adopted the funny nickname.

`Yes,' replied Thranduil with a sigh. `Why don't dwarves use a bow and arrow like elves?' asked Ellandan. `I don't know,' responded Thranduil and waited for the ridiculous answer he knew would come. Elladan had been making up silly jokes for the past few days and none of them had yet to be successful in the eyes of Thranduil and Elrohir. `Because since they are only half the height of an elf, they can only shoot half as far!' Elrohir roared with laughter at his brother's joke and even Thranduil chuckled at it a little. Though the joke was bad, any joke, which compared dwarves to elves, was considered funny according to elves.

Ellandan sighed in defeat, he knew his joke had been pathetic but at least Thranduil had laughed a little at it. The twin brightened at that thought and brushed his defeat aside for now.

* * *

That night Thranduil set up camp in a large thicket, a very rare sight out on the planes between Greenwood and the Misty Mountains. They still had at least two days journey before they would reach the High Pass according to the map Thranduil was busily poring over. He sighed in irritation and set it aside in order to attend to the stew he was cooking.

Once he was done and was busily ladling the stew into two bowls for the twins, he looked up in search of the twins. They stood just a little way away heatedly arguing over something. `Elladan, Elrohir,' he called. The twins came running over, their argument instantly forgotten at the promise of food. `Here you go Elladan,' said Thranduil passing him a bowl of food. The twin scowled, `how did you know it was me?' Thranduil chuckled and tapped his nose secretly. `That is for me to know and you to find out,' he said to the twin as he then passed Elrohir his bowl. The twins had evidently changed their shirts in order to trick Thranduil into not been able to tell the difference between them. Unfortunately for them, Thranduil had studied the two of them hard over the past few days in order to be able to tell the difference between them since he feared the two of them might just decide to play that particular prank sooner or later.

Much later, the three of them began to settle down for the night. Thranduil had no fear of orcs or other foul beasts attacking them that night. They were well hidden after all and the war against Sauron had occurred only a few years ago and the forces of Mordor well still recovering slowly from the attack.

`Tell us a story,' mumbled Elrohir sleepily. `What kind?' asked Thranduil with a sigh. `One bout you,' said Elladan with a loud yawn. Thranduil closed his eyes and tried to think of a suitable tale. Eventually he smiled as he came to rest on a particular incident that had occurred when he was around the twins' age.

`When I was a youngster my Adar and I went off hunting by ourselves. Of course we should have known better and we both knew that the Queen was sure to be furious with us,' began Thranduil. The twins chuckled at the thought of Thranduil as a naughty young elfling. `It wasn't long before I spotted a small rabbit. With a loud cry I leapt to my feet from where I'd been hiding in the brush with my Adar and hurried after the rabbit. My Adar yelled after me of course and quickly followed. By that time it had started to rain but I didn't care, I wanted to kill that rabbit and then present it to my Adar so he would be proud of me. I eventually lost the rabbit when, much to my dismay, I tripped over a tree root and landed with a loud splat in a huge bog. My Adar rounded the tree and saw me at the last moment but was too late to stop himself from tripping over me and landing face first in the bog.'

The twins laughed loudly, completely forgetting how tired they were as they thought about the particular incident Thranduil had just described. Thranduil chuckled as well, it almost seemed like it had happened yesterday.

`Anyway,' continued Thranduil. `We were both a very sorry sight when we got back later that evening in the pouring rain. The warriors on duty at the time had a very difficult time trying not to laugh while the Queen scolded us as we stood there in the pouring rain.'

The twins sighed in contentment, both equally glad they had heard the tale. `That was a good story,' murmured Elladan quietly. `Mmm,' agreed Elrohir. Thranduil sighed peacefully and rolled over. `Goodnight young ones,' he said. `Goodnight,' replied the twins simultaneously which elected a soft chuckle from Thranduil.