Pierced

Young Troubles

Cassia is a very young elf at the time (eight in human years) and some young elf boys pushed her out of a tree with the excuse that girl elves should be smelling flowers not climbing trees and she fell and got hurt. a very young Legolas sees this happen and climbs out of another tree and tries to help her but she sends him to go find her father. Legolas can not find Lord Elrond but Lindir comes to help and Elladan and Elrohir appear and scare off the young elf boys.

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1- way before the events of "The Hobbit"

2- Young Cassia, Young Legolas, Elladan, Elrohir, Lindir, Elrond, some idiot little elf kids

3- from the mind of the author

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Lord Elrond's youngest daughter studied with the other children of Rivendell though she preferred her private tutoring with Lindir. she did not much care for other elf children unless their name started with the letter "L" and ended in "-egolas". the young elf prince was visiting Rivendell for a little while to join her in some of her studies but he did not visit very often. Cassia was not pleased that her father was making the two of them interact with the other children because both would rather spend their free hour alone together in the shade of the trees in the private gardens.

at the moment, Cassia was trying to climb a tree that was already inhabited by a few other elf boys. the girls were smelling flowers some distance away but Cassia had no interest in those activities. Legolas was in another tree and had insisted she come climb his tree but when the other elf boys began making fun of the two of them, Cassia went to them seeking revenge of some sort. 

her silken dress was not made for climbing clearly and it had snagged already so she was not worried about ruining it but it did not make the climb any easier.

"princesses shouldn't climb trees in their dresses. you've already ruined yours. imagine what Lord Elrond will say when he sees you've ruined another one." one of the elf boys called down to her. 

"if she's so determined to climb the tree why don't you shake the branch she's on and see if she can hold on!" another elf boy shouted and then the tree began to shake.

Cassia could not hold on. 

it did not take long for her to fall back down to the earth and when she did try to land on her feet she landed on the soft earth on the side of her foot. the rest of her body met the ground soon after and she could hear shouts of triumph before shouts of concern followed. 

those elf boys had just nocked the youngest daughter of Lord Elrond out of a tree. what would he think of them? what had they done?

"Cassia!" Legolas shouted with concern as he quickly climbed down the tree and jumped off the final branch gracefully. he was from the woodland realm and knew precisely how to jump out of trees without getting hurt. 

Legolas hurried to her side and pulled her legs out from beneath her. he pressed his thumb on the ankle he had seen her land on and she winced. 

"I'm fine, go get my father." Cassia says and Legolas looks up at her with concern.

"no you are not!" he insists as he tries to wrap his arms around her to lift her.

"go get my father!" Cassia says sternly to the young elf prince.

"i don't want to leave you!" he protests.

"for Elrond's sake, Legolas! we are not on a battle field! i will be fine!" she insisted.

"Fine." he finally said as he got up brushing the dirt off his knees before running off. 

in the mean time Cassia looks up at the boys and sees them still frozen in place in the tree though a few of them were discussing what they should do of the situation. she heard quick footsteps coming towards her and she turned to see her fathers right hand man running towards her. 

"Lady Cassia, what has happened?" Lindir asked as he came down on his knees before the young elf princess. 

"those boys," she began as tears started to stream down her face. "i was trying to climb the tree and they started to shake it to make it harder for me to climb. i fell and landed on my foot badly. Legolas went to find my father." she said through a choked voice.

"i will take you to him if that is what you wish. your brothers will deal with these boys." Lindir said as he handed the young elf a clean kerchief to wipe her tears.

"yes, please." she said and Lindir leaned close to the young elf princess so that she could wrap her arms around his neck. 

Lindir picked up Elrond's youngest child as if she were a delicate flower and got to his feet glaring at the boys that remained in the tree. Elladan and Elrohir arrived soon after.

"Cassia, are you alright?" Elladan asked his baby sister as he came into her view. 

Cassia frowned and shook her head as she rested her small hand on Elladan's cheek. he smiled and took her hand kissing the back of it gently before walking off towards the tree. Elrohir brushed his hand over her head moving some of her hair out of her face as he rubbed her head gently for only a moment before he turned and joined his brother.

a few minutes of walking later and two sets of footsteps could be heard. Lindir stopped walking and the footsteps increased in pace as Elrond and Legolas arrived. Cassia let go of Lindir and leaned towards her father who took her with open arms as she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into her fathers chest. Elrond kissed the top of his daughters head before looking to his right hand man and nodding gratefully. 

Lindir nodded back and they all turned to walk back towards the private gardens of Elrond. as they walked Lindir looked down at the young elf prince walking among them and pat his head twice. 

Legolas looked up at Lindir and Elrond proudly and Lindir smiled at him giving him a grateful nod as well. 

"Legolas said her foot is swollen." Elrond said to Lindir.

"Perhaps we should take her to her quarters and have young Legolas keep her company while we send for healers." Lindir suggested. 

"a fine suggestion, what do you think, Legolas?" Elrond asked as he looked down at the boy.

"I will gladly keep her company... any time." he answered quietly.

Elrond only chuckled at him and smiled as he and the others continued to walk. Cassia was still awake but was not being responsive as she was trying to cope with the pain in her ankle that had not yet subsided. her father was gently rubbing her back as he carried her and that gave her some sense of comfort for the time being.

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when they arrived in Cassia's room her father laid her down on her bed and Legolas went to the other side of her bed as her father kissed her on the forehead then he and Lindir left the room.

Cassia scooted herself to her pillows so she could lean against them while sitting up and before she could say anything Legolas took a pillow and lifted her leg, gently placing the pillow under her calf so that it was propped up. 

"L-"

"I'm sorry." Legolas interrupted.

"why?" she asked as she reached out for his hand.

he inhaled deeply before placing his hand in hers reluctantly allowing her to pull him to sit on the bed next to her. "i just... i could have stopped that from happening."

"it's alright, now my father wont make us play with other children. it can just be the two of us. in the private gardens." she replied and he couldn't help but smile shyly as he looked away. 

Cassia let go of his hand and adjusted her dress only moments before a nurse came in and hurried over to her with a bandage and a cold looking elixir that would probably reduce her swelling ankle.