An Unusual Journey

Part Five

Inspired by his rage, Aragorn shoved the horse of off himself and sprinted at full speed towards the unconscious Legolas. Swiftly, Aragorn grabbed the blade from the unconscious elf and swung at the man. The man stepped to the side, dodging the blade. He in turn swung his own sword towards Aragorn. Aragorn blocked it and tried an under hand cut at the man. It pierced the man and he cried out in pain. He stumbled backwards, clutching his stomach where the blade had pierced. Aragorn brought the blade down once more in a finishing blow. Then, he turned his attention to Legolas. A lump was already forming on the elf's head. Aragorn slung him over his shoulder and began to run towards Mirkwood. 'Their back up will probably be here soon.' He thought. 'Better hurry.' Aragorn continued to run as long as he could, then he slowed to a jog and then to a walk. Finally, he made it to the border of Mirkwood. He walked in, and followed the Elven path. The dark forest instantly closed in on them. Legolas groaned and opened his eyes. Upon realizing he was being carried, he jerked and struggled causing Aragorn to lose his grip. Legolas fell to the forest floor with a thump. He groaned in agony and tried to stand up, but fell back when the pain grew to be too much.

Aragorn whipped around and held back a little smile. "Thought I was kidnapping you?" He asked.

Legolas scowled at his friend, "Well excuse me, but last thing I remember is that man hitting me while you were trapped under a horse." Legolas closed his eyes tiredly, "What happened?"

Aragorn shrugged. "I finally got the horse off of me, grabbed my sword from where you were laying unconscious and fought him. I did an undercut and caught him off guard." He explained.

"Oh...I see. Well, I'm sorry I couldn't defeat him...I..." Legolas drew a labored breath. "I feel so...tired."

Aragorn patted him on the shoulder. "It's alright. You were wounded." He said. "Can you walk for a little while? Then we can rest."

Legolas nodded, "I think so..." He struggled to get up and managed to balance against a tree until he was fully standing.

"Here. Use my shoulder." Aragorn came closer to the elf so that Legolas could use his shoulder.

"Thanks." Legolas grunted as he placed his weight on Aragorn.

With Aragorn's help, They made their way deep into the forest. After awhile, Aragorn stopped and helped Legolas sit down. "Rest." He commanded. "I'll watch." Legolas begrudgingly obliged and caught his breath. He pulled off the makeshift bandage on his arm and inspected the wound.

"I'm sorry we couldn't get your bow back." Aragorn apologized, "I'm sure you can get a new one at your father's kingdom." Aragorn leaned against a tree and unsheathed his sword. He inspected the sword. When he was satisfied that it was still sharp, he held it in his hands, staring at it.

Legolas smiled, "It's not a big deal. I'm just glad we made it out of that situation."

Aragorn sighed, "let's hope they don't follow us."

Legolas nodded slowly and continued messing with his wound. Satisfied that it was good enough, he stood up and breathed deeply, "I'm ready to go."

Aragorn frowned, "No. You need to rest."

Legolas sent Aragorn a 'seriously?' look. "I will be okay. I just want to get home."

Reluctantly, Aragorn complied. "Alright. But if I think you need rest I will stop walking and sit down." And with that, Aragorn started walking along the elvish path.

Legolas shook his head in disbelief and followed slowly. "Okay then."

A few hours later, Legolas was struggling to keep up with Aragorn. He did his best to keep the ranger from knowing and set his face to a grim expression, concealing the pain he felt. Soon Aragorn noticed that Legolas was falling behind. He stopped, sat down, and leaned against a tree. "Go ahead and sleep. I'll watch."

Legolas folded his arms over his chest, "Aragorn, get up. We need to keep going."

Aragorn sat where he was. "You are tired. I don't want to get to your father's realm and have you drop down tired! I am. Not. Moving. Get some rest. I'll watch."

"You forget, Ranger, that I can be just as stubborn as you." With that, Legolas kept walking and disappeared through the trees. Aragorn glared at him. There was nothing he could do but follow Legolas. He grinned to himself. Legolas could be stubborn, but Legolas would pay. Aragorn followed Legoas, making sure that the elf did not see or hear him. Legolas stubbornly kept walking, not looking back. He hoped Aragorn would follow but with being so weak, his hearing and sight were worse currently. Aragorn followed Legolas quietly. He would wait until Legolas got a little worried.

After around twenty minutes, Legolas finally looked back. He was startled to see Aragorn was not there, nor was he in sight. "Aragorn?" He called out. Aragorn stifled a laugh.

Legolas shrugged his shoulders and kept walking. 'If Aragorn wants to be like that, then I'll let him.' Legolas reasoned. 'He knows the way to my home anyway.' He thought.

Legolas managed to walk for several more hours before his body could take no more. He collapsed to the ground, his legs giving up. Right away, he fell into a deep sleep from exhaustion. Aragorn walked up to him. "Sheesh." He muttered to himself. Then, he sat down and leaned against a tree, preparing to wait while Legolas rested.

Credits:
Evara-Aragorn
Ithildae-Legolas
Karock-Ithildae
Keldara-Evara
Evara and Ithildae-Extra characters