Beastly || Legolas

nine

"Oooo pretty", Namir whistled as they entered the halls of the elven city. He knew where it was but he had never come close to it before, unsure how the elves would react if a panther prowled by their gates. The city was truly beautiful though. All carved out of the wood and stone of a cliff that was covered in trees. Below the road to the gates, a river ran and Namir peered over at it eagerly. He could do with a bath and it looked like a good place to swim. A shove to his shoulder brought his attention back to the moment.

The company, with Namir bringing up the rear, was matched up through twisting paths and shadowed tunnels into a cavern big enough that they could not see the end. It was another blend of stone and wood, wooden platforms carved out of living trees served as floors and branches serving as paths led out like a maze through the cavern. The ceiling was so high that Namir could not see the top, just more layers of floors and the glow of torches. Some natural light shone down and he was surprised to see that it seemed to be midday. The suffocation of the forest having stolen his sense of time. The curious cat part of him ached to shift and run through the floors. It all looked perfect for climbing and some of the ledges called to be lounged on. He made a small sound in his throat, eyes wide and pupils large as he tried to take it all in. "This is amazing", he breathed.

"Erebor is better", Dwalin grumbled next to him. Legolas silenced their talk by stepping into sight. His blue eyes gazed out over the group and he spoke to the guards, hand gesturing at Thorin and then at Namir.

Namir put on an innocent face, widening his cat eyes like he used to do as a cub and Beorn had caught him eating the butter. It didn't help as the dwarves were all led away, presumably down to the cells. Namir waved at a few of them as they went, smiling as he listened to them grumble. He saw the elf leading Fili pull yet another knife from the dwarf's boot. "Really?" Fili's frustrated voice echoed back as they disappeared from sight. Namir chuckled and turned his attention back to the elves. Two were standing guard behind him and Thorin and two in front with Legolas. Not that all those guards were needed, as soon as they entered the city they were trapped.

"The king will speak with the leader", Legolas stated, waving a hand at Thorin. His blue eyes were cold in a way Namir had never seen them before. Perhaps the elf just preferred cats over people? Then the elf turned his gaze to him. "Now who are you?" His voice wasn't loud, it didn't need to be, but it was firm and considering. "Why is a man travelling with dwarves?" One of the elf guards pushed the hair from Namir's ears away, the boy jerking in their grip, and said something in elvish. Namir snarled low in his throat and snapped his jaws at the hands. Legolas' eyes lingered on the points of his ears. "A half-elf half-human? That still doesn't answer my question".

"He's our guide", Thorin grunted. "Our guide through the forest".

"I'd have been a better guide if you lot didn't run away while I slept", Namir snapped back. A hand reached to restrain him and he bared his teeth with an animalistic yowl at the offender.

Legolas frowned at the sight. "I have never known and elf, half or otherwise to be so beastly", he muttered, then repeated it in elvish. Namir caught the word "Radag" but it did not sound the same as all the times the blonde had used it before, this time it was bitter and harsh. He felt a sting of hurt. Now he knew what the word meant. It meant beast. Legolas waved a arm and a order echoed. Two of the guards pulled Namir back and he fixed the blonde with wide eyes as he was dragged away after the others. He kept his gaze on the elf until he was out of sight. The guards tugged him down great flights of stairs and Namir let them. They passed a few of the other dwarves until they reached an empty cell and he was shoved inside. The iron door clanging shut behind him.

"Namir?" A voice called as the guards left. Namir sighed and leaned against the bars.

"Hello Ori", he replied.

"Are you alright?" The young dwarf called from the cell next door. Namir sunk to his knees on the floor, whole body suddenly worn and instincts screaming at him. Cats did not like to be trapped and this cell was too small, far too small. It felt like it was suffocating him. His limbs twitched with frantic energy and he curled up, arms wrapping round his legs as he tried not to shift in this tiny room.

"No", the reply was small an a whine followed it. "No".

"Are you scared of small spaces?" Ori asked in a concerned voice.

"No", Namir rested his head on his knees and pressed himself as close as he could against the door of bars, hoping to feel airflow on his skin. "I'm scared of being trapped and chained".

There was a short silence as the tale of how the skin-changers were killed rose in the dwarf's head. It made sense that Namir would be afraid of being trapped and chained. He would have grown up knowing what had killed his race and the seeing the chains still locked around Beorn's wrists. Knowing that the same fate might be his one day if he was ever captured by orcs, or anyone seeking to kill a beast. Ori opened his mouth to reply but it was cut off as the voices of the others echoed round to them. "Thorin!" Balin's voice rising up. "Did he offer you a deal?"

"He did". Thorin replied. "I told him he could"- A string of violent sounding Dwarfish followed the sentence- "Him and all his kin!" There was a chorus of groans from the company.

"Well that's that then", Balin sighed. "That deal was our only hope".

"Not our only hope". Thorin's words were quiet but Namir heard him all the same. Footsteps echoed on the stairs above.

"Someone's coming", he hissed. The dwarves fell silent as the footsteps grew closer. Namir stiffed as they approached and tucked his head into his arms. The feet halted outside his cell and he caught a whiff of spring. He peaked big brown eyes over his arms and through his tangled hair. Legolas was stood outside his cell, face still cold but blue eyes questioning as he gazed down at the huddled form.

"You spoke as if we knew each other", The elf stated, voice quiet enough that their conversation did not carry to other cells. "But I do not know you. Tell me how you know me".

Namir shifted back from the door and uncoiled enough to face the elf fully. He remained seated though, eyes watching the elf unblinkingly, pupils so big that his gaze seemed black. "I saved your life once. Almost nine hundred years ago now. You were young and still new. It was when the spiders were first appearing. I saved you from one of them".

The elf dropped onto one knee so that their gazes were level. Brows furrowed with anger. "Quit playing games. You cannot possibly know that". His voice was a furious whisper and Namir watched as a hand clenched into a fist. He rose onto his hands and knees and peered at Legolas with his cat eyes. Their faces only separated by the door of bars between them.

"I do not walk the forest in this form. My other form is what you now me by. You call me Radag and Miog". The elvish words did not sound correct on his tongue but he tried his best. "You once gave me fish and another time I stole the cheese from your bag. We meet always on a full moon and the last time was before Dale burned".

"That is not possible", Legolas' voice was a breath and his face had fallen out of it's anger and was rapidly growing pale with shock.

"It is. I'm a skin-changer", Namir thumped his fist into the ground. "Look at my eyes! Look at me Prince Legolas. I know you. I saved you. I have never hurt you". His words cut off and a frustrated snarl left his lips. There was a bang as his hand collided with the door and he turned, rising to his feet and pacing the cage. "I want to be let out. I need to get out".

"The skin changers are all extinct".

"Look at me!" Namir whipped around and stormed back to the door, chest heaving and voice rising. He bared his teeth in a snarl, uncaring how the dwarves could hear him. "I cannot hide what I am. Just, please, let me out". There was a whine on his words, follow by a distressed high pitched cry.

Legolas was staring at him, blue eyes wide. Then his face set in to something hard and cold, a mask like marble, and he turned without another word and left. Namir gripped the bars and rested his head on them as he fought back tears. Slowly, he sunk back to the floor and curled up again. The hope in his chest fading into the sting of betrayal and desolation as Legolas' footsteps faded from his hearing range. In his cell, Namir began to cry.

unedited