The Wood Elf and The Peredhil

A Mistake or Two. Or Three.

        It had been four months since Legolas reached his majority. He and Elladan had moved into one large bed, which had been a surprise for them two months ago. They didn't know about this arrangement until they went to their room that night. They were okay with each other now, but Legolas knew that Elladan still didn't want to bond with him.

        One morning, after waking up early, Legolas decided to take a walk. He went to the stables and visited the horses. There was one in particular that seemed unhappy, though. She was restless in her stall. Legolas approached her and pet her soft nose. Being a Woodland Elf, he could speak to nature. Animals were part of nature, so he spoke with the horse.

        "What is wrong, pen-bain {beautiful one}?" Legolas asked the horse.

        I wish to get out of my stall. I want to run around in the forest. It will be such a beautiful day, and I cannot wait.

        Legolas chuckled, "You do not wish to run away?"

        Oh, no! I love this place, and the forest. I wish to be amongst the trees!

        "You will return?"

        Yes!

        "I will let you out for a while. But be back before noon. I'm sure the stable hand won't be happy to find that he has misplaced a horse."

        Legolas opened the gate and let the horse out. She trotted to the edge of the wood, looked back at Legolas, and then proceeded to walk into the forest. Legolas smiled and went back to his room, where he saw Elladan was just waking up.

        "Good morning, Elladan. Did you sleep well?" Legolas asked.

        "Yes. You?" Elladan replied, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

        "I slept fine, thank you."

        "What are you doing so early?"

        "I just went for a walk."

        "I see."

        Elladan stood and began to dress. He and Legolas went to breakfast and parted for the day. Elladan and Glorfindel were going to train some of the novices. Legolas, Elrohir, and Arwen would be going to town to buy some new materials for clothes that were to be made for Legolas' and Elladan's bonding ceremony. They ate lunch in town and came back. When they arrived, Legolas saw Elladan speaking with the stable hand. He hoped that the horse had made it back okay, but had to carry things inside and soon forgot. Soon after, Elrond came to Legolas and said that he wanted the blonde to take Elladan on a walk through the gardens.

        "He seems upset, and I know that the gardens always calm him," Elrond explained. "Besides, it'll help you two bond."

        Legolas agreed and went to find Elladan, who was standing by the garden gate. They began to walk, but Legolas saw that Elladan took almost no notice of their surroundings.

        "It is beautiful day," Legolas tried.

        "It is always a beautiful day in Rivendell," Elladan replied, shortly.

        "Well, I think today is especially nice, even if you don't appreciate it," Legolas retorted.

        Elladan was about to say something when a horse ran out in front of them on the path. It was  thrashing and obviously trying to get away from something. Elladan recognized the horse as his own and tried to calm it. When he had gotten her calmed, the adrenaline that had been coursing through her stopped and she dropped to the ground, weak. She took a few heaving breaths and then breathed no more. Elladan knelt next to her and felt tears in his eyes. Wounds from arrows and blades covered her body. Legolas was horrified.

        "I shouldn't have let her out," Legolas mumbled. But Elladan heard him.

        "You what?" Elladan cried, furious.

        "She – she was uncomfortable and anxious in her stall so I let her out for a bit. She said she'd come back before lunch," Legolas explained while Elladan got to his feet.

        "Animals have no knowledge of time such as we do!" Elladan screamed. "You may be able to talk to them, but you do not understand them! You've killed my horse!"

        "No! No, I..." Legolas tried, but Elladan struck him across the face.

        "Get out!" Elladan screamed.

        Legolas couldn't bear it, being screamed at in that manner by someone he loved. He turned and ran into the woods. He didn't look back, and was barely able to look ahead through the tears in his eyes. Elladan stood there on the path, fuming.

        Elrond and Elrohir ran along the path. They'd heard the shouting, and were on the way to try and stop Elladan from doing anything too rash. But when they'd heard his scream at Legolas to leave, they ran faster. When they arrived, they saw Elladan kneeling next to his dead horse and stroking her neck. Elrohir knelt next to his brother. Elladan couldn't look at his brother or father.

        "Elladan, mani marte {what happened}?" Elrond demanded.

        Elladan took a moment to collect himself before he answered, "I found that she was missing. When Legolas and I were walking, she ran out onto the path in front of us, wounded. When she was calmed, she dropped dead. Legolas said something about letting her out. I blamed him and told him to leave."

        "Where is he?" Elrohir asked, worriedly.

        "He ran off into the woods."

        "Ed' i'ear ar' elenea {By the sea and stars}, Elladan!" Elrohir exclaimed. "Don't you know how foolish that was? Whatever harmed your horse could still be in the woods and catch Legolas!"

        Elladan's eyes widened. He hadn't thought of that. All three hurried into the forest as quickly as they could. They had to find Legolas quickly before he got into trouble.

        But they were too late. Legolas had paid no attention to his surrounding that he didn't notice the Orcs until they were upon him. And even then he had no weapons. He simply fell to his knees, still sobbing, as they beat him. He fell unconscious and they carried him off.

        By the time Elrond, Elladan, and Elrohir reached the spot, the Orcs and Legolas were long gone. Elladan found the evidence of the attack and dropped to his knees, tears coming to his eyes. Legolas was an innocent. He was young and trusting. He'd broken that trust and let the young prince be captured by Orcs.

        Elsewhere, the Orcs chained Legolas in a small, dark cell and waited for him to awaken. When he did, they would have some fun with their enemy.

A/N   OOOOHH!! SUSPENSE! Hi guys. SO glad I got to update early. I may even update twice this week. WWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Okay, so new thing, I've decided to give a shoutout to whomever comments first on the chapters. SO. The shoutout for the person who commented first on A Begetting Day is @charlesrules. CHECK HER OUT. And the reader who first commented on my last chapter was @AnastasiaVujinovic. And @suprrgurl was the first ever to comment. So shoutouts to all of them and especially @charlesrules because she gave me the idea to do shoutouts. Love you guys. Look out for the next chap! BTW, the horse up there is Elladan's.