The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings -oneshots II

Thief of thieves - Legolas

Warnings: thievery and threats of imprisonment
Word count: 1805
Other: -
Requested: by MeiMeiLCXY

The Mirkwood kingdom has had trouble with looters, and Legolas is responsible for finding them. He mistakes you for one of them but quickly learns that he could not be more wrong.

Legolas pushed the doors of the throne hall open, his eyes finding his father, who was pacing the length of the hall, arms folded behind him.
"Ah, Legolas, just the elf I wanted to see." He unfolded his arms from behind his back, turning to look at his son.
"As you know, the lower levels have been looted twice in the last moon, and that is unacceptable. I want you to find the people responsible and bring them to me so they can be punished accordingly." The king's eyes flashed coldly while he spoke, the fury towards the attackers clear in his eyes.
"Of course." Legolas gave a short bow, pleased. He had been patrolling around the kingdom for months now, wanting something different, and this was the perfect opportunity. He wasn't happy that the kingdom was being looted, but he was happy that he had been chosen to stop it.

- -

Legolas had been in the forest most of the day, trying to track the thieves. He had decided to start alone, as it was easier to be hidden when you were alone. He would ask a patrol of guards to help him when he had located the thieves. As he trudged through the forest, what annoyed him was that the group of thieves were more skilled than he wanted to give them credit for. They managed to hide their footprints, even when walking in the soft forest ground which usually held them well. He caught whiffs of them here and there, a scrap of fabric stuck into a bramble bush, and a footprint that they had missed when hiding them, but if he didn't know the thieves were out there, he wouldn't have known they existed.

He was almost ready to give up, the sun having set moments ago when movement caught his eye from the corner of his eye. Someone was running through the trees, their steps almost drowning in the rustle of the forest. Legolas hurried to follow, making sure to keep his distance to avoid being spotted.
Anger was welling inside of him. How dare she steal from his kingdom?

He was almost close enough to tackle and restrain you when you disappeared from his line of sight. He grits his teeth but kept walking towards the spot where he had seen you last. He suspected that you had reached the lair, and judging by the yellowish glow of a fire, he had to be close. He heard voices, muffled by the distance, and he huffed. Of course, you had accomplices. Perfect.

But when he peeked from behind a tree, he didn't see you in the midst of the other thieves, you were nowhere to be found. The group of men were rowdy, Legolas could smell the wine they were drinking from where he was sitting. They were boasting to each other with their loot, and Legolas tightened his hold on his bow but forced himself not to interject. There were eight of them, and even as highly trained as he was, he knew the fight would not end in his favor.

When a strife started between two of the men, causing them to abandon their bags of loot on the ground, Legolas' eyes caught you again. You slipped out of the bushes that skirted the outline of the clearing. You slowly inched towards the abandoned bags, keeping your eye tightly on the men to spy the slightest hint that they might be turning around. When they showed no signs of turning, you stepped into the outline of the campfire. You quickly bent down and swiped a few objects from the top, a pair of golden earrings and a small silvery bracelet, careful not to make noise. Legolas watched with a furrowed brow as you tucked them into your pockets but stayed to move one of the goblets into another bag before you retreated back to your hiding place. You slipped back into the bushes before the group could notice, but Legolas could see the faint ghost of your form still sitting in the bushes, waiting for your next opportunity.