The Hobbit / LOTR -oneshots

Lend a hand - Thranduil

Warnings: injuries, blood
Word count: 1624
Other:
Requested: by juviaheartattack1

Thranduil meets a woman that has had many unfortunate things happen to her. Can he ease her burden somehow?

Thranduil was on his normal patrol, leading a group of guards deeper into the forest, eyeing the trees. The forest wasn't as safe as it had been, monstrous spiders hiding among the trees, that had started to show signs of sickness. Most of them were healthy, with branches filled with green leaves and sometimes flowers. But some of them started showing the signs of the same disease that seemed to plague many trees in the forest lately. Their branches became bare, their leaves turning brown or black and then falling to the ground, and the tree never bore leaves after that. It was like the trees were slowly dying. The thoughts that plagued his head quickly escaped as the now unfortunately familiar noises of giant spiders reached his ears. Unsheathing his sword, he ventured to the direction the sounds were coming from, his eyes cold. There was no place for those foul creatures in his woods, they could crawl back into the dark corners of the world where they came from.

A cluster of spiders was flocked around something on the forest floor, hissing and snapping at each other, their legs pounding the ground. Thranduil didn't hesitate for a moment as he approached, twirling his sword silently, the group of warriors now on high alert, their own weapons tightly in their own grasp.
"Hain dago! (Kill them!)" He ordered, and the elves stormed towards the spiders silently. The spiders scattered when they realized what was happening, that their kind was being slaughtered around them, and they quickly fled into the forest. With a quick glance, they asked Thranduil for more instructions, who didn't waste a second giving his next order.
"Aphado hain! (Follow them!)" The warriors disappeared from view quickly their steps disappearing into the pounding steps of the spiders as they fled.

Thranduil was curious about what had drawn them out of the tree and approached the foot of the old cherry tree that was finishing blooming, the white petals covering the ground in an even blanket, covering the ground into a layer of snow-white petals. Thranduil had expected it to be a deer or some other poor creature that the spiders had captured to feed their insatiable hunger, but it was an elleth, a woman of his own kin. You were laying on the ground, a gaping wound on your side, your eyes squeezed shut with the pain.  Blood was slowly oozing out of your wound, the sticky red of it dropping into the snow-white petals on the ground. Your breath was wheezing, it was clear that the poison of the spider bite was already affecting you. Thranduil dared a step forward, but you didn't move, only let out a shaky breath.
"Gresta nín, mecin. (Help me, please.)" Your voice was a barely audible plead, praying that he would.

Thranduil hesitated to take you to the kingdom to be healed. What if you were a spy? What if you were an assassin, sent to kill his subjects or him? But the more time passed, the less you seemed like a threat. Your strength was quickly dwindling. Even if you tried fighting the effects of the poison, it would kill you soon without help. So he made his decision. After making sure that you didn't carry any weapons, he picked you up and started to venture toward the kingdom.
"Mana nalyë? (Who are you?)" Your voice trailed off as you lost consciousness, and Thranduil increased his pace, hoping that his hesitation hadn't cost you your life.

- - -

When you came to, you were confused. You had no idea where you were or how you got there. Your mind was hazy, your memories refusing to show themselves to you clearly. You could remember bits and pieces of what you assumed were the last few days. They were hazy, the flashes so quick that you struggled to understand. Your village was destroyed... Giant spiders crashing down from the trees...  A pleasant male voice...
"Mas (Where?) ... Where am I?" You deemed it best to speak the common tongue as you had no idea where you were.
"You are in the kingdom of Mirkwood, my lady. The king found you in the forest, saved you from the spiders, and brought you here." An elderly elleth, a healer judging by her clothing, appeared from the shadows and pushed you back onto the pillows. You frowned, still trying to understand the situation. The king? Was he the pleasant-voiced elf that you remembered?
"You need to stay here for a few days, the wound is deep and the spider managed to get quite the dose of poison into you." You lifted the blanket to see white bandages wrapped around your torso, now noticing the slight dull pain radiating from the spot.
"You need plenty of rest and water but I am quite certain that you will be alright in a matter of a few days." Her voice was gentle as she pulled the blanket slightly more over your body, covering the bandages from your sight. You realized that you hadn't thanked her yet, but she just shook her head at your words.
"Do not thank me, child, thank the king." She exited the room, closing the door behind her and leaving you laying alone in the dark. It didn't take long for you to fall asleep again, the wound and the confusion draining your strength out. 

-

It had been two days since Thranduil had taken the injured elven woman to the healers. She was healing well and had started gathering her strength surprisingly fast. He hadn't been allowed in until the healers were sure that the poison was out of her body. They had feared that he would say something to unnerve her, increasing her heartbeat and possibly spreading the remaining poison through her body and collapsing her condition again. The head healer had given him permission to enter but only after emphasizing that the patient could not strain herself. It would be very dangerous to her health, even with the poison now out of her bloodstream. Thranduil wouldn't have cared to visit her normally, but this time, he was curious. Where had she come from and how she had ended up being hunted by spiders?

So he knocked on the door, and after he received a gentle 'come in' he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. When his eyes landed on her, he stilled. Her eyes which had been squeezed shut in pain when he had found her in the forest, were now open. Thranduil was enchanted, they held no signs that she had been fighting for her life only a few days past. Their bright color shone in the low light, clear curiosity evident. Thranduil couldn't understand how he had ever thought that she could have ill intents, her eyes or demeanor held no such clues.
"You must be the king I must thank for saving my life." Her voice was surprisingly strong, her words didn't waver as they did in the forest. 
"I require no such things. I am just curious about your story. How did you end up here, if I may ask?" Her eyes grew more guarded at his question, a sheen of sadness taking over. Her fingers came to fiddle with the hem of the blanket and the small hole that was there, a silent sigh leaving her lips.
"It is not a short or a very pleasant story." She confessed in a quiet voice but sighed deeply as you lifted your eyes to him. 
"But I suppose I owe you the answer after you saved me."
"I do not wish to drain you by asking for the whole story, híril nín (my lady). Just a brief tale." The lady gave him a smile, shaking her head.
"I am no lady, King Thranduil. My name is Y/N." She moved her hair behind her back, leaning back against the pillows.

Thranduil couldn't believe everything the woman laying in front of him had been through. Settling into a human village after her brother's death, whom she had been traveling with. The village was attacked by orcs not a month later. Escaping the village, only to be blamed by the other survivors for not hearing the attack and letting them be slaughtered as she supposedly deemed them less than herself. Setting onto the road, alone this time, with no place to go and nothing to protect her life. Venturing into the forest by a mere hope of the rumors she had heard that an elven kingdom layed here. And just as she could see the walls of the kingdom, being attacked by a swarm of spiders and dragged deep into the forest.

You were breathing heavily as you finished your story, a few tears have escaped your eyes. Thranduil dared to extend his hand and he gently laid it on your wrist, your eyes snapping to him. He didn't know how to comfort you.
"Thank you for telling me, I cannot imagine how hard it must have been. I leave you to rest now." You answered with a smile, wiping your cheeks dry. He rose from the seat that he had taken during her story, and walked to the door. Before he left, a small smile visited his lips as he glanced at the woman on the bed.
"And do not fret, you are welcome to stay here."

I am heading off to my family's summerhouse tomorrow, but I will try my best to get back to writing the best I can, as I have been a little bit lazy lately.

Also yea, the summary sucks.