For Years to Come

Chapter 2

Aragorn, son of Arathorn, had just turned 26 years of age.  It had been six years since he became the 16th chieftain of the Dúnedain, and became known as 'Strider' by the rangers of the north and the people out of the borders of the Shire.  He had spent some time in Rivendell recently, and Elrond had discussed with him about his future, and what it held.  It got Aragorn thinking-- if he was going to be the kin of men someday, shouldn't he become more familiar with some of the other rulers of Middle Earth? 

Originally, they were just that - thoughts.  But once he told his foster twin brothers, Elladan and Elrohir, they told him they agreed, much to Aragorn's surprise. 

"Estel," Elladan had told him.  "If you want to familiarize yourself with other rulers, we know a great place to start."  He winked.  "Ever thought of visiting Mirkwood?"

"Mirkwood?!" Aragorn exclaimed. 

Elrohir seemed to be catching on, and nodded in reply. "Yes.  The realm of the elf-king Thranduil.  It could prove to be wise to go meet him and his young heir."

Aragorn's eyes were wide.  He had heard many stories about Mirkwood, and all of the dangers there.  He heard about how different the Silvan elves were from the Noldor; how they were more wild, more dangerous...  And as far as he knew, they weren't very welcoming to outsiders, especially those of a different race. The thought of going there kind of terrified him.

The twins noticed his distressed expression, and glanced at each other, before Elladan turned back to Estel.  "Thranduil's son is a great friend of ours.  His name is Legolas.  Surely you've heard of at least some of the stories about him?"

Elrohir grinned.  "Like that time we went fishing together and Elladan pushed him in the river."

Elladan laughed.  "I did no such thing!  Do not tell Estel these lies!"

"Or that time we got caught by some orcs?  That's not quite so humorous of a story, but now looking back on it, it really was quite the adventure!" Elrohir shook his head and smiled.  "Point is, he's a good friend and would be a reliable ally, would you ever have need of one."

Aragorn pressed his lips together in a straight line, thinking.  "You two would come with me though, right?"

Elladan sighed.  "We wished we could Estel, really.  It's been ages since we last saw Legolas.  But we are needed here.  You go, and send him our well-wishes."

Aragorn had made the decision to go.  Legolas the elf was well spoken of by his brothers and Lord Elrond, so he supposed he should meet this prince of Mirkwood himself.  It was late spring too, which was a good time to travel.  And so he left Rivendell, spending many days traveling to this new elven realm.  Elladan and Elrohir had given him a letter to give to King Thranduil once he arrived, and he was honestly glad for that, so there would be no mis-communications when he arrived and tried to meet them.  It wouldn't do him any good to be shot down by some elven archers the second that he entered their forest.

The human had been traveling for what seemed like endless day, when he finally reached the edge of Mirkwood. A slight discomfort ran through him as he took a look at it. It seemed as though it had once been a very grand and beautiful forest, but now...Now it was so dark. The air was heavy, and he could tell just by looking at it that danger lurked within.

But then again, people lived and swelled in this vast forest, so it couldn't be that bad.

Right?

He entered the forest warily, keeping a close eye out for anything that might prove to be a threat.  Weren't there supposed giant spiders here? Or orcs? Or something else?  His heart rate sped up a little just thinking of it. Ranger he may be, but he was just one man. One young man who didn't currently have years of experience fighting.

Estel took a deep breath as he headed further in, treading lightly. He just had to make it all the way through this eerie forest until he came to king Thranduil's palace. He'd done more difficult things. He could handle this.

Suddenly, he heard something. It was faint, but it was there— a light scuttling sort of sound. And something else too, that he couldn't quite make out.

Aragorn hid behind a tree and waited for whatever it was to come out. An elf maybe? An orc? But he knew the footsteps of elves would be near impossible for a human man to make out, so it couldn't be an elf. Well, whatever it was, Aragorn didn't want to face it now unless it happened to be friendly.

The young ranger peered out from behind the tree, and waited. Only a few seconds passed before the sound became louder. His eyes widened when he saw a ginormous spider dragging something covered in webs behind it. Upon closer glance, he realized that something was actually a someone.

Ai, this situation just became more complicated for him. He wanted to help, but he'd never fought a giant spider before. What if it was too strong and it defeated him?

No. He knew he had to this his. He knew he had to save whoever was trapped in the spider's webs, most likely about to be devoured. He had to kill that giant, huge, deadly looking spider and rescue them.

So he did.

Aragorn unslinged his shortbow from his back and fired an arrow at the spider.  Having grown up with elves as teachers, he was better than most human archers. He definitely preferred the sword though, but the longer he could stay away from that spider while still fighting, the better.

The spider let out a horrid sound that sounded like a screech of pain. It noticed Aragorn and charged at him. In return, Aragorn sent two more arrows flying. They each hit a leg, and the spider wobbled. It now being too close to shoot, he unsheathed his sword and attacked it. Slash after slash he cut a leg off. Only seconds later, he relieved the creature of its head.

Aragorn stepped back, panting slightly from the effort.  "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" He mumbled to himself. He paused only for a moment, before running over to the person bundled up in the sticky webs, and started to cut them free.