Legolas x OC

Saving Pippin And Merry

A band of Uruk-hai marches across the plain, with two hobbits bound to the backs of two Uruk-hai. Pippin tries to call to Merry, who is unconscious with a gash on his right brow, "Merry. Merry!" Pippin receives no response.

Aragorn, Legolas, Desert, and Gimli continue to give pursuit. Gimli was panting behind Legolas as Desert ran behind Aragorn, "Keep breathing. That's the key. Breathe." Gimli huffs. "They run as if the very whips of their masters were behind them," Legolas spoke, his elven eyes watching the party.

The two parties continue running over the vastness of Rohan from day through to sunset. Neither the Uruk-Hai nor the four hunters are willing to stop for rest or breath. Suddenly, an Uruk-hai puts up his hand and signals a stop. "What is it? What do you smell?" An Uruk questions. The leading Uruk sniffs the air, "Man-flesh." Pippin mutters quietly to himself, "Aragorn!"

"They've picked up our trail! Let's move!" The Uruk-hai quicken their pace. Pippin struggles to reach his Elven brooch with his teeth. He then tears it off his cloak and drops it onto the ground. A foot stomps onto the brooch, but it remains unbroken and visible on the grass.

Aragorn is lying with his eyes closed and ear pressed to the ground, listening for the sound of footsteps, "Their pace has quickened." He looks up, "They must have caught our scent. Hurry!" He runs off. Legolas shouts over his shoulder, "Come on, Gimli!" He looks back at Gimli and then runs after Aragorn. Gimli pauses in his steps and huffs, "Three days and nights, pursuit. No food. No rest. And no sign of our quarry but what bare rock can tell."

The Four Hunters run across rocks and plains, with Aragorn in the lead. From time to time, Legolas looks back to make sure that Gimli is keeping up. Aragorn suddenly bends down to pick up an Elven brooch from the ground, "Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall." Legolas stops and turns to Aragorn, "They may yet be alive." Desert pants next to the Elf, "T-they... are... alive... Legolas..." She leans back and pops her spine.

"Less than a day ahead of us. Come!" Aragorn runs off again. Gimli stumbles from behind some rocks and rolls to the ground. Legolas turns to the dwarf, "Come, Gimli! We are gaining on them!" The Prince grabs Desert's hand and pulls her with him. Gimli is panting, "I am wasted on cross-country! We dwarves are natural sprinters! Very dangerous over short distances!"

The trackers come over a hill and pause as they gaze across the plains below. "Rohan. Home of the horse-lords. There is something strange at work here. Some evil gives speed to these creatures, sets its will against us." Aragorn gazes at the view. Legolas runs ahead and looks out to the horizon, dragging Desert with him.

"Legolas, what do your Elf eyes see?" Aragorn shouts out.

"The Uruks turn northeast. They're taking the hobbits to Isengard!"

"Saruman," Aragorn grumbles.

On the plains of Rohan, the dawning sun rises as the four hunters continue their trek across the fields at high speed. Legolas pauses and looks upon the sun with dread. "A red sun rises. Blood has been spilled this night." He whispers. Without another word, he continues on the hunt. Desert touches the ground, feeling the roots of the trees pull and twist to a certain spot. The creatures are dead, and the hobbits are alive.

"Desert! Come on!" Legolas calls out. At the top of a rise, Aragorn stops again to examine the ground. The sounds of horses neighing breaks the air. Aragorn looks up warily. He gestures to the three to hasten behind a nearby rock formation to hide. Desert peeks up as Éomer and his riders of Rohan ride over the hill. Aragorn looks up at them passing and walks calmly out of hiding.

"Riders of Rohan, what news from the Mark?" Aragorn calls out, getting their attention. The head horseman signals the pack with his spear. With astonishing speed and skill, the Rohirrim check their steeds, wheel around, and charge at the four. Together, they watch the Rohirrim approach. The Riders circle around the four hunters tightly. They stop and point their spears at them.

Aragorn holds up his hands in surrender. Éomer rides forward and addresses them from his steed, "What business does an Elf, a Man, woman, and a Dwarf have in the Riddermark? Speak quickly!" Gimli begins to speak defiantly, "Give me your name, horse master, and I shall give you mine." Desert lightly bumps the Dwarf's arm in warning.

Éomer hands his staff to another Rider and gets off his horse. Gimli gives an arrogant nod at Éomer's approach. Aragorn puts a hand on Gimli's shoulder to stay him. "I would cut off your head, beard, and all, Master Dwarf if it stood but a little higher from the ground." Eomer snarls.

In a lightning-fast move, Legolas nocks an arrow and points it at Éomer, "You would die before your stroke fell." In a tense moment, all spears are trained on Legolas. Desert lowers Legolas's bow as Aragorn addresses Eomer, "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn. This is Gimli, son of Glóin, Legolas of the Woodland Realm, and Willow Maid. We are friends of Rohan and of Théoden, your king."

"Théoden no longer recognizes friend from foe." Eomer removes his helmet, "Not even his own kin." The Rohirrim withdraw their spears. Éomer sighs, "Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over these lands. My company are those loyal to Rohan. And for that, we are banished." He speaks to the four, accusing, "The White Wizard is cunning. He walks here and there, they say, as an old man hooded and cloaked. And everywhere, his spies slip past our nets."

Desert shakes her head, "We are no spies. We track a party of Uruk-Hai westward across the plain. They have taken two of our friends captive." Éomer looks at her, "The Uruks are destroyed. We slaughtered them during the night." Gimli spoke desperately, "But there were two Hobbits. Did you see two Hobbits with them?"

"They would be small. Only children to your eyes." Aragorn described. Éomer shakes his head, "We left none alive. We piled the carcasses and burned them." He points to where smoke rises from a pile in the distance.

Aragorn looks away, dumbfounded. Gimli is shocked, "Dead?" Éomer nods, "I am sorry." Legolas puts a hand on Gimli's shoulder in grief. Éomer turns and whistles, "Hasufel! Arod!" Two steeds move to the forefront. The man lovingly places his hand on them, "May these horses bear you to better fortune than their former masters. Farewell." Éomer puts on his helmet and returns to his horse, "Look for your friends. But do not trust to hope. It has forsaken these lands." He turns to the Riders, "We ride north!" The Rohirrim quickly rides off and disappears to the North. Aragorn looks toward the smoldering pile.

Aragorn is on Hasufel with Desert, and Gimli riding behind Legolas on Arod, they ride across the Plains toward the edge of the Fangorn Forest, where the pile of dead Orcs smolders. They halt their steeds beside the pile and dismount, looking upon the pile with dismay. Gimli half-heartedly shifts through the smoldering Orcs with his axe. He reaches down to retrieve one of the Hobbits' sheathes. He turns mournfully to the three, "It's one of their wee belts."

Legolas bows his head and closes his eyes, "Hiro hyn hîdh ab 'wanath." Aragorn kicks a helmet and screams a cry of anguished defeat, and falls to his knees, hanging his head low. He sits in despair. "We failed them." Gimli sadly looks at Aragorn. Desert touches Legolas's hand, "Hain are cuin."

Aragorn turns his head and something on the ground suddenly catches his attention. A glimmer of hope flickers across his visage as he notes some marks on the ground. He moves towards them and touches the spots with his hands, "A Hobbit lay here. And the other." He sits back to ponder the meaning of these marks. Aragorn's eyes shift to a new set of markings off to one side, "They crawled." Aragorn tracks the Hobbits with Legolas and Gimli closely following his progress. He points out the marks, "Their hands were bound." Aragorn comes upon a short length of rope buried in the trampled grass, "Their bonds were cut." He continues tracking across the grass. Aragorn continues to follow their progress from the history they left in the dirt and grass and points out their tracks in the ground. "They ran over here." Aragorn follows the prints, he notes another set alongside them, "They were followed." Aragorn runs after their tracks, imagining them.

"The tracks lead away from the battle..." Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are running and stop short of entering Fangorn. "...into Fangorn Forest." Desert was already standing by the entrance of the forest as the three looked into the dense and dark forest of gnarled trees so close together, it's as if it is guarding against entry. "Fangorn? What madness drove them in there?" Gimli mutters. They continue to look into the forest, uncertain as to whether they should enter or not. Desert turns to Legolas and Aragorn, "They are alive. I know they are..."

"You knew, lassie," Gimli states, staring at her in awe.

(May they find peace in death)

(They are alive)