Unlikely Rescue

Chapter 24 - Searching For a Lost Elfling

Thanks for all the great reads! Sorry if this update ends up being late (I usually update every 5 or 6 days), and if not the one after will definitely be, due to a holiday next week :)
Please don't abandon this story everyone, stay with me! I love you all ;)

"What do you mean he's GONE? Ada, why didn't you tell me before, I have to go after him, he's going to DIE out there!"

"Ion-nín. Be reasonable. You needed rest; you couldn't just go walking out half-dead!" Elrond's voice was beginning to rise. "Your life is worth more than his, ion-nín. He said it himself, he is a murderer! I assume you didn't know that when you brought him in, and if you did, shame on you!"

When Estel spoke, it was quiet, but confident. "He's not a murderer."

"I cannot for the life of me fathom why-" the Elven Lord paused for a moment as what his son had just said sunk in. "Did you just say he's not a murderer?"

"Yes, Ada, I did. Because he's not. He just believes that he is because that is what his father has told him every Valar-forsaken day of his life! When his mother died in childbirth, it destroyed his father. The only way he could let out his grief was on his son, and so he beat him every day. Every day, Ada! What else could the elfling believe?"

Elrond merely stared at his son. "H-how... why was I not informed of this...?"

"Because nobody knew, apart from me and him, and-"

"How did you know?" Elrond cut in.

Aragorn took a deep breath. "Because I found him. I found him in his father's dungeons, locked away in his father's palace, guarded by his father's guards, almost dead. I didn't know what to do, but I couldn't leave him there, so I... I..." he paused, looking into his father's eyes, which were shining with... tears? "I took him and ran away. We were on the run for a long time. I saved his life... and he saved mine. He means a lot to me, Ada. Eventually his father's guard caught us and... and he was going to take a shot at Legolas. Legolas... froze. I don't know why, or what caused it, but he just froze. I knocked him out of the way but - but I wasn't quick enough. You'd have to ask Îdhír and Tinu for the rest, I hear they came after us."

Elrond frowned, putting together the pieces in his head. Only one thing didn't make sense.

"I was told that his name was Dagnir, but you just called him Legolas, did you not?"

Aragorn considered the point for a moment before replying. "His name is Legolas, of that I am sure. I can also see why he didn't trust others with his real name, especially strangers. What reason does he have to trust other people? He lost that trust a long time ago."

Elrond nodded, but Aragorn hadn't finished.

"Have you considered what Dagnir means in elvish? Have you? It means killer, Ada, he called himself killer. Because of what his father did to him. Because of what Thranduil did to him."

With a nod, Elrond stood, and began to pace the small healing room. His boots clicked rhythmically against the polished wooden floor as he strode from one end to the other, over and over again. If what Aragorn said was true... he supposed be had to find this mystery son of Thranduil's. But that did not mean Legolas wouldn't be punished for practically killing Aragorn. Not physically, of course. Elrond would never hit an elfling, especially not one who had already been through so much. But some punishment would be necessary.

With a resigned sigh, Elrond spoke. "Alright, ion-nín. Go after him. But make sure you bring him back in one piece. If I know you at all..."

"I'll come back half-alive and happy about it, yes, I know, you've said it about a thousand times." Aragorn playfully recited the well-known phrase. "Honestly, Ada, anyone would think you'd been alive for centuries and have run out of things to say - but oh wait, you have!" Estel burst into peals of laughter, which were echoed moments later by both Elrohir and Elladan, who had heard the end of the conversation on their way to visit their little brother, and had come in.