To Live Again: Waiting Between Worlds {Lord of the Rings Fanfiction}

Into the Fire

Outskirts of the Silvan Camp
Greenwood
The Great

Legolas had absolutely no intention of following orders...none.

What he was good at was technically following orders, and for all intents and purposes he was technically following his King's commands, but with his own agenda. That agenda took the form of a flame haired elleth who practically leapt on him at the first opportunity that he was alone.

Tauriel had expertly stowed away with the guard, something Legolas was not at all surprised about, she was practically small enough to hide in the most obscure of places. What he was shocked about was the fact that she was still determined to fight even after the battering she took, and how her aunt and grandmother had allowed her out of their sights...she was a crafty little thing. Still, he was relieved to see a familiar face, a trustworthy companion with a rebellious streak, and not one to shrink from a plan that deviated from the majority.

Having heard her quiet call from the trees, Legolas caught up the scent and trail of his childhood companion and quickly found her in the heights of an oak overlooking the old fortress. No one would overhear them or find them here, it was a clever place to hatch their plans, he just prayed they would be successful ones.

"I am not even going to ask how you managed to escape the palace," Legolas huffed as he scrambled over a precariously slender bough, tilting his head in faux warning at Tauriel who predictably smirked.

"You just have to know when no one is looking," she tapped her nose, but the playfulness left her features as she gestured towards the camp, "they aren't ready Legolas, none of us are, whatever evil follows those orc packs is keeping them hidden and fuelling the shaman attacks."

"I was afraid you would say that," Legolas grunted and glared out at the crumbling city, "the forest surrounding the old realm is sick, lifeless, whatever surrounds it has taken root in the trees themselves."

"What does your father say?" she pushed, her green flecked eyes glittering with anxiety as she clutched the wood beneath her fingers tightly.

"He is gone, he left to go after Nana himself, convinced it is the only way," he replied, smacking his hand over his brow and rubbing it furiously. "He left me in charge, along with your uncle, to head up the army to aid a diversion for his sake. Honestly, the more I think about it the more I cannot see another way he could have planned this. There is no one, literally no one left, that knows the old fortress the way he does and no one that has the spiritual gifts to drive out the darkness, and even then he is not as equipped as the Noldor. Logically speaking I do not believe he would be able to attack it, only reveal it, his strength lies in the energy of the forest and if that fails him then we could lose more than our King...we could lose our home."

"He is not the only one..." Tauriel dared to remind her friend of one other who could help, one other who was already on her way.

"I cannot put my sister in danger Tauriel, that is the last thing I would ask of her, she is too young...we are too young!" Legolas practically choked on the thought, he couldn't face pulling another of his family into this, especially with his baby brother completely isolated.

"You might not have to do anything," Tauriel cringed when her response caused the prince to pale quite considerably. "Celairiel was two steps ahead of you, she already figured out the essence of the spirit, she went to that outsider - Lord Glorfindel - and they are both on their way here. She means to be the distraction."

There was a strained silence between the pair as Legolas' face seemed to go blank, the only thing that gave away his anxiety was his eyes; the pupils darted from side to side as he rolled through his calculative thoughts.