Princess of the Woodland Realm||LOTR

Legolas leaves

Aranel stayed by her father's side, eyes trained down on the bodies strewn about. She'd been both unable to face the carnage of Ravenhill while the battle raged on, nor able to keep track of where Legolas was. She pleaded to the Valar that he'd be alright. Following her father through the ruins slowly, her eyes scanned the bodies of the fallen, hoping none of them to be her beloved brother. Her arm remained around her side.

"I... cannot go back." Legolas' voice spoke up from a distance. Aranel felt her heart leap for joy, hearing her brother's voice once more. He was alright. He was unarmed, but he was safe.

"Where will you go?" Thranduil asked his only son. Aranel joined him by his side, getting a glimpse of her brother again.

"I do not know." Legolas brushed past them to leave. Aranel didn't want him to leave. She didn't know what she'd do with herself if Legolas left her. Her brother was far too important to her.

"Go north. Find the Dunedain. There's a young Ranger amongst them, you should meet him. His father, Arathorn, was a good man. His son might grow to be a great one." Thranduil suggested. He knew his son was a good man, one that Thranduil could never be.

"What is his name?" Legolas asked, turning back to face the pair.

"He's known in the Wild as Strider. His true name, you must discover for yourself." Legolas nodded slowly and continued to walk away from his family.

"Legolas." The younger Elf stopped in his tracks. "Your mother loved you, and your sister. More than anyone. More than life." Thranduil's hand rested gently on Aranel's back while his other rose to his chest and extended to Legolas, a formal goodbye for the son that he so loved. Aranel had a hard time containing her tears as she watched her father bow his head in soft grief. Thranduil turned away from his daughter, lost in thought, rounding the corner. Aranel made the choice to race after her brother.

"Stop, Legolas!" She called out, stopping him just before he disappeared from her view.

"Aranel, go home." He didn't turn to her, his gaze too focused on the horizon. 

"Will you ever return?" She asked. Legolas shook his head slowly as he turned to face his younger sister.

"I defied our father by protecting Tauriel, a banished Elf. Thus, I committed treason against our people." Legolas looked at the ground, refusing to meet her gaze. There was something more he wasn't telling her, but she refused to press the subject. Aranel approached her brother slowly, taking in his features, remembering everything about him. The way the light glistened in his blue eyes, the way the sun bounded off of his flaxen locks, similar to her own. She lifted his chin, forcing his gaze to meet hers.

"Legolas, my beloved brother. Should you need me, ever, I will be there for you. All you need to do is think of me. Think of the bond we share as brother and sister. I will be there. You are the greatest treasure anyone could ask for." Her voice lowered as she drew his forehead to hers, closing her eyes.

"Thank you, Aranel." Legolas closed his eyes for a few moments before separating from her. He took one last look at his sister before beginning his walk north. Noticing his empty quiver and knife holsters on his back, Aranel sighed heavily, wincing in pain, her injury not forgotten.

"Wait." Aranel strode up to him one last time. "You have no weapons. How do you expect to defend yourself with no bow, no arrows, and no knives?" She extended her weapons to him.

"Aranel, I cannot accept these. They were a gift from Father to you when you completed your training." Legolas pushed the weapons back to her.

"Correction, the knives were a gift from Ada, the bow was the one you made, same as the arrows. They will serve you just as well as they have served me. A Mirkwood warrior is nothing without his or her weapons. I would rather have my brother survive a simple walk to the North and not be ambushed by whatever foul creatures lie out there." Aranel wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Take them, you stubborn Elf." She smirked. Legolas took them gladly and smiled at his sister, thanking her one last time.