The Elvenking and his son have watched as Mirkwood descends into darkness, as the Shadow grows every day. The strife of the past has branded them with hurts that cannot be forgotten and stings that seem to never fade, but it will not do to disrememb...
Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all of one's lifetime.
- Mark Twain
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Ada, may I come along with you?"
"I am not going anywhere important to you, ion nin."
"Oh, but you are. I have passed my test to join the Forest Guard, and though you do not wish to allow me join yet, I wish for some sort of practice, some experience."
"No, Legolas, I will not risk you to only raid one orc camp. It is too dangerous."
The Elvenking made way for the door, but his son had different plans, stepping between the exit and the king.
"Ada, no longer am I a child, I am among best archers, and Bercalion has said my skill with knives was the best he had ever seen among ellyn my age!" Legolas exclaimed.
"Cease this, this trying to convince me. I know you are nearing your coming of age and are overdue to join the Forest Guard, but my decision has long been made. You shall stay here."
And with that Thranduil stalked out of the room with a flourish. Legolas found himself extremely angered. He was by far the strongest warrior in his training class, and it had already been a decade since he passed his test. Why must his father shelter him so? To retain ignorance?
Legolas was still young, very young, but ignorance still never will do one any good, and this did Thranduil know very well. Yet still he strove to shelter his dear son, for fear was rooted deeply in his heart, a controlling fear that haunted every step.
With anger seething strongly in his mind, the foolish prince devised a plan to find his way out of the palace, even though his father had ordered him to stay. It was a clear act of rebellion from Legolas, but still he carried out his disobedient plan. The window nearest to him just so happened to be quite near a tree, creating his first step in escaping what he called his pen.
Carefully, he pushed himself out and held onto one of tree branch. His plan was to go on the raid with all the other warriors, and to the young prince, the plan was absolutely stupendous and would surely not fail him. Easily could he disguise himself by smearing some dirt on his face and rebraiding his hair. Thranduil should know not.
Holding to the branches of the large tree, the prince lowered himself to the ground.
He was nearing the beginning of the tree's trunk when suddenly he heard an unearthly yell, and with that he fell straight into his father's arms. Oh, he could be such an elfling at times. It was very sad, really.
It was not that Thranduil was there by chance, for the king was wise, having been once as young as his son. He was waiting by the prince's window, knowing precisely what his foolish son desired to do.
