The Ranger And The Prince.

Flirting and Fighting.

The week after Aragorn and Arwen's wedding, we left for our trip to the Glittering Caves. Me Legolas and Gimli were eager to be traveling again and I felt great to be away from formalities.

We traveled for over a month into the Westfold of Rohan, towards Helm's Deep. It had been over half a year since we had last been here and yet the memory was still fresh in my mind.

It was safe to say, Legolas was stunned by the beauty of the Glittering Caves, as was me and Gimli. Who knew such beauty could reside underneath such a place of battle?

The caves lived up to their name, glittering and glistening with a thousand lights. We didn't even need to light a torch, the whole cave was lit up with the florescent water which stood in still pools below up. The stalactites and stalagmites stood proud and tall, the odd occasion dripping of water into the pool sent echoes off the cave walls.

We spent nearly two weeks there. We weren't in a rush to get anywhere else. Gimli was pleased just how much Legolas had come to appreciate the caves. Elves usually favoured the vast outdoors whilst the Dwarves dwelt underground. But even Legolas admitted, the Glittering Caves were one of the most beautiful things he had seen, and that said a lot coming from a nearly three thousand year old elf.

The next month we found ourselves in the depths of Fangorn Forest. It was a different type of beauty to the caves but it was beautiful nonetheless.

Both me and Legolas could feel how old the forest was, so ancient were it's roots, it made even us two feel so young in comparison. To an elf, there's only a few things that can make you seem young and Fangorn seemed to be one of those things.

The first week we spent there, Gimli felt on edge because unlike the caves, the forest was alive and he felt uneasy about being watched. After explaining to him just how old and wide the forest was, he relaxed a little.

The second week we stayed there, the Ents came out from hiding. Whilst Gimli wanted nothing better than to grab his axe for reasurance, me and Legolas were intreaged by the ancient beings.

I hadn't thought much about the forest the last time I had been there, after all, I had nearly been eaten alive by Orcs.

I wondered how exactly the elves had woken up the forest all those thousands of years ago. We spent the whole week, listening to the Ents, tales of the First Age of Middle-Earth. Even Gimli couldn't deny his facination with the Ents. By the time we left Fangorn, we were still full of questions but we knew that if we continue to stay there and ask them, we would never leave.

The next few years me, Legolas and Gimli continued to travel together.

Most of my life, I had been a rouge, a solitary ranger without many friends nor a normal family. Then I had met the fellowship and my life was changed. Instead of roaming Middle-Earth alone, I now had Legolas and Gimli and Aragorn. Though Aragorn was usually tied to Minas Tirith, he still continued to be a brother to me whenever we visited him. Same with Gimli, he definitely was a brother-at-arms.

As for Legolas, well, he may be annoying at times, but I wouldn't trade him for anyone else.

During one of our visits to Minas Tirith, we were told that Frodo, Gandalf and Mother Galadriel, as well as others, had sailed to Valinor, the undying lands. I felt sad that I wouldn't likely see Mother Galadriel in the near future but I knew they would be safe and happy in the undying lands. As for Frodo, I hoped he would one day find peace.

I wondered what Valinor was like. I knew that only Elves and Ring-Bearers could sail across the sea and step foot in the undying lands. It is meant to be what is basically elf utopia, a place of peace and harmony.