Blood of the Covenant [ Legolas x Fem!Reader ]

Chapter Five 𐮛 Blessed Mare

"The moon is hanging low tonight,
Inspiring mischief in my breast.
I seem to hear a firm request
Projected in her yellow light.

A saner, wiser man than I
Might see the view and wax serene,
But my proclivities are mean;
I'll have all night to ask her why."

- 'Low Moon' by Saeturnus

◤──•~❉᯽❉~•──◥

Huffing, puffing and sweating like mad. Ever since they had abandoned the Lake Anduin with fleeting steps, they had not stopped for one single rest. [Y/n] could have sworn she was beginning to lose her vision from exhaustion, but maybe she was being too dramatic and what she really needed was to exercise regularly rather than sit and read all day. Seeing Legolas fly like he held no wait in his feet made her green with jealousy — if the Mirkwood elf could still be light on his feet without having broken a sweat yet, then she should also. Yes, he is a captain and a warrior, but she doesn't look upon him as anything more than a naturally lithe Ellon, who just happened to be blessed with great athleticism (a very poor judgement to make.)

"Water... water!" She wheezed, stopping for a moment to double over and catch her raspy breath, the air somehow hurting her lungs in each breath she took, like it was laced in smoke. Her beating heart began to scare her, she's never felt it drum so hard against her ribs before and even make its way to her ears. Is it possible to die from running too much? She wondered, heaving another deep inhale while clenching her chest tightly.

"Come on, [Y/n]! And you, Gimli!" Legolas calls from the top of the hill, then continues his pursuit effortlessly. Seeing as there was no time for her to take a water break, she quickly tried to swig a gulp of water just for a bit of replenishment, but he calls to her again, making her lose her balance and accidentally spill it onto her neck. "We have no time to lose!"

She groans before forcing herself to sprint after them, noticing even Gimli was doing better than her. Curse these legs! They were  not made for running! She whines inwardly, and attempted to open her water pouch while running but, nearly trips over multiple jagged rocks before her. Stumbling all the way up the hill, she finally made it to the others position and took a quick breather, but immediately they were already shrinking in her vision as they dashed away again. She whined and willed her legs to continue sprinting after them.

Catching up with trio was no easy task, but she had managed to take a messy sip of water (most of it went on her chest) and finally arrive to open plains beside them, which reached far beyond the eye could see. The ground was softer and wetter, meaning the Orc tracks were far easier to see... still, she felt these tracks were old and that they were already more than a mile away from them.

Aragorn looks at something on the ground, piquing her interest because they finally halted their step. She took this opportunity to down the entire contents of her water pouch, and stuff some Lembas into her gob, hoping to gain some energy from it. Already, her mind felt clearer and her body ached less than before. She sighs, standing beside Gimli.

"Not idly do the leaves of Lórien fall..." Aragorn peers at a familiar green brooch, and hope swells in [Y/n]'s heart.

"They may yet be alive," Legolas contends, and [Y/n] felt relief at those words.

"Less than a day ahead of us. Come," Aragorn picks up his pace again.

Resuming their sprint, [Y/n] had an upper hand now that she had a full stomach and a rejuvenated throat, now able to keep up with Legolas... unfortunately for Gimli, he stumbled on behind them.