Vicious || Legolas

nineteen

They left at dawn. Namir dozing tiredly on the back of the white mare that Legolas was riding, the elf's pack on his back along with his longsword so that he could lean against the Blonde's back. It was too long of a journey for him to accompany them in cat form and while he had increased weight in the week he has been freed, his stamina is still not what it was. So he hung on the back of Legolas' saddle, head pillowed on his shoulder and arms wrapped around his waist. 

The wind swept over the plains as they rode. A group of Rohan horsemen about a few hundred strong riding together across the grass and hills. They rode all day. Namir spending the time dozing on Legolas' shoulder or talking to him quietly. The nature of their ride, surrounded by hundreds of others, meant that their horse didn't need tight control. Rohan war horses were famed and well trained and they ran together with little guidance from the rider. Intelligent animals that knew the lands of Rohan as well as their masters. 

The first day of travel was so exhausting that Namir was asleep as soon as they stopped to make camp. Legolas fondly lifting from the back of the saddle, his lover's body still thin despite the healthy diet, and laid him on his cloak as he set up their campfire and bedrolls. Aragorn and Gimli setting up their bedrolls on the other side of the fire from them. The night cloud free and the stars watching from above. Legolas, not needing as much sleep as his companions, spending the night running his fingers through Namir's long dark waves as the skin-changer slept on. It was a night free of terrors. The fresh air keeping the memories of his imprisonment at bay. 

The second day of travel ended with their camp being established in the mountains that bordered Gondor territory. Theoden with his trusted men set up their camps at the top of a old road into the rocks. There was a wide cliff edge there with a narrow path leading down to the plains below where the rest of the forces gathered. Namir had been more energetic that day and had half climbed the cliff in cat form, claws gripping the rock as the horses took the path. Legolas watching with a smile from below as the cat leapt and climbed his way up. 

"It's good to see the young one gaining his energy", Gimli chuckled from the back of Aragorn's horse. The brown stallion walking on the path just ahead of Legolas' white mare. the path was steep and narrow enough for a horse and a small cart, yet they rode in single file for precaution for the road was old and cliff edges crumbled. At the thought, Legolas lifted his gaze up as a few pebbles was knocked down and clattered loudly as they fell. Namir's swishing tail disappearing over the edge of the top with a triumphant twitch. 

"He is the oldest in our company", the elf replied with a smile. "Excluding Gandalf. He is two hundred and sixty seven years older than me, remember?" He grinned teasingly. 

Gimli scoffed. "I recall. He just seems younger, a young one. He seems new, like a wet behind the ears lad first allowed into the world with barely beard whiskers". The dwarf snorted and puffed on his pipe. Smoke blowing behind them in soft ringlets. 

"I agree", Aragorn murmured from ahead. "How did you meet him? You have yet to tell me the story". The path widened and Legolas drew his horse up along side Aragorn's. 

"I knew him for almost three hundred years before even knowing his name", he recalled with a chuckle. 

"How did you never get his name?" Gimli interrupted. 

"I met him in his animal form. He saved my life. I was new to combat out of the training halls. Spiders were starting to infester the Greenwood. One got me alone and before it could pierce me, a beast threw it off and tore it apart. I thought he would kill me. There had been rumours about a beast haunting the trees for nearly a thousand years. I didn't know that it was just the curious skin changer from the farm on edges of our land. Imagine my bewilderment when the beast did not kill me, but instead let me pet him".

 As he had spoken they had reached the top of the road and the wide field nestled in the mountain. It was high enough to see for miles and defensible. Namir was sat patiently waiting for them in a patch of sunlight near the rock wall. The deep black of his fur slightly dusty from the climb and his tail flicking comfortably. As the three hunters dismounted, he sauntered over and nudged his head into Legolas' thigh. The elf running his fingers smoothly over the cat's head and scratching him behind the ears as he began to purr. 

Legolas beamed as he continued speaking, Aragorn and Gimli listening as they began to pull their supplies from the saddles. "Miog. I saw him a lot since then. Full moon nights when I could slip away from my patrol group. Always in cat form, always happy to see me. I didn't know that the beast was man until I found him leading a group of dwarves through the forest". There was the sound of shifting bones and Namir slung his arms over the blonde's shoulders, cheek rubbing against his and leaving a gentle smudge of soot and dust before leaving. 

"At first I explored the elven forest in beast from because it was safer. Then the enchantments on the water and trees that confused travellers grew stronger. In cat form I was immune, in human I could have succumbed to it's effects. The only reason I was human when we met was to talk to the company", he explained as he pulled on a pair of grey trousers and a off white shirt. It hung over his waist, sightly too big but hid the still exposed outlines of his ribs from sight. The wide collar didn't over the burn scars over his neck but he didn't care. The darkness that stained his hands and feet were fading, black skin more of a grey than before and the sight kept him in high spirits. He had thought he would be cursed with monstrous hands for the rest of his life. 

"That sounds like a fairytale", Aragorn chuckled as he began to set up his tent on the edge of the field furthest away from the road where men were still travelling up. They were near the narrow pass int he mountain where the grass faded into stone and gravel. It was a dark passage but they ignored it for now. The sunlight keeping the coldness at bay. "A prince and a beast". 

"I heard from King Fili that you made Namir cry", Gimli teased as he tried to set some wood on fire. 

Legolas huffed at him, the elf trying to untangle Namir's long hair again. "It was not my intention and I have apologised for that". 

"I knew him, I mistakenly forgot that he didn't know me", Namir murmured, hissing at a stubborn knot. A kiss to the back of his neck soothed it into a irritated grumble as the skin changer sat down on the grass. The elf following him like a shadow, focused on his task. "I mostly cried because I was locked in their prisons. I never liked being confined. Used to wail as a child whenever I was ever not allowed out of the house. Once when I was about this high", he measured a few feet off the ground with his hand. "I screamed so much when my father had to leave me in my room to tend to the horses during a storm, that I passed out. He ended up just strapping me to his back and taking me with him. It was a good storm and we weren't hit by lighting".

He grinned, ignoring the sad glances to the scars around his neck at the reminder of his  recent rescue. If he had hated being imprisoned so much as a child, how tortured had he been in that tower? Legolas let the smooth movement of his fingers weaving the long dark locks into smooth braids occupy him. If he thought about it too much then he was afraid that the anger would embolden him to ride back to Isengard and tear the tower down brick by brick if he had too. By the looks on Aragorn's and Gimli's faces, they might just help him. 

"Are you done yet?" Gimli broke the tension with a grumble. "You two can stop being lovers for a second and help us put up the tents. It's supposed to rain tonight". 

Namir immediately bounded up and grabbed a rope and pulled. He was intending to help but the tent that Aragorn was trying to steady promptly collapsed on itself. The skin-changer frowned and Legolas laughed. "Radag". 

"Was that the wrong rope?" Namir asked. "I've never put up a tent before". Gimli let out a barking laugh as Aragorn sighed at the mess of cavas and wooden poles. 

"Legolas. Help me. Namir, you can help Gimli cook some dinner". 

"I can do that", Namir perked up and turned to the fire. Legolas sniggering as he began to help the man pull the tent back up. 

unedited 

friendship moments cause they deserve it.