Legolas’s words provided a small balm to the trees’ fears for his future. They could feel what was in the elf’s heart, and there was no doubt about the sincerity of what he had told them. Their soft weeping faded and was quickly replaced by soothing whispers of comfort. They would do their best to ease the passing of this silvan elf, how ever long he remained with them.
The twins, while not wood elves and thus not as attuned to the trees’ song as Legolas was, still felt the change in the whispers that swirled around them.
Elladan leaned close to Estel and whispered to his human brother, "They comfort him." His eyes never left Legolas‘s upturned face.
Aragorn nodded and attempted a smile. Even though his face was not entirely successful in showing it, he truly was glad that the trees that Legolas so loved would ease his friend’s heart, at least a little. He glanced at Elrohir and then back at Elladan. "Do they also comfort the two of you?"
"They do," Elladan replied, as he felt the mood in the forest would also be meant for any elf in their midst. Looking at Aragorn, the elf said, "You are also a child of Ilúvatar, Estel. The forest offers peace to us all."
The four companions continued riding deeper into the luxuriant forest, when suddenly Legolas turned his gray stallion, Elenblaith, to the left. Leaving the dirt trail they had been following, he began weaving his way through the thick tees. The stallion’s steps were unerring in avoiding dips, raised rocks, exposed roots and any other obstacles that presented themselves.
After traveling this way for several moments, Legolas entered and then stopped in a small clearing. It was ringed with large oaks, forming an almost perfect circle. The murmur of water bubbling over a rocky streambed could easily be heard not far off to their right. It offered a soothing sound all its own.
Legolas, his gaze still on the trees, swayed, looking as if he was about to fall off his horse.
The ranger, who was moving up on the elf’s right. He was frowning. "Are you feeling unwell?" He almost laughed at himself. ’That was a stupid question,’ he chided silently.
Legolas turned his gaze from the leafy branches over his head to his friend’s concerned face. "Do not worry, Estel. Elenblaith will not let me fall."
As if to verify the truth of his master’s words, the stallion shifted his weight and stepped to the left, as he felt Legolas start to lean that way. However, no amount of effort on the horse’s part was going to keep Legolas on his back indefinitely. The elf was beginning to lose his battle with the darkness that was constantly encroaching on his awareness.
The horse’s step had taken Legolas out of the Aragorn’s reach But when the ranger saw that the elf was still firmly seated, he fought the urge to move over and grab his friend.
With a knowing smile, Legolas swept his right arm before him to indicate the clearing. "This is the place."
Puzzled, Aragorn said, "What do you mean?"
"This is the place where I wish to...fade." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Do you all agree?" He asked, because they were all in the same situation, and he didn’t think it fair that he should make the decision for the others.
A quick glance among the brothers told them each that the other two agreed. It was a beautiful spot. Other than Imladris, they could think of no better place to leave this world than here. "It is perfect, Legolas," Elladan said.
Aragorn dismounted, followed by Elladan and Elrohir. Legolas remained seated upon Elenblaith’s back. No matter how determined he was to function independently, he had to face reality. If he attempted to get down unaided, he knew he would fall on his face. Ordinarily that would have been exceedingly embarrassing for him. Of course, ordinarily he would never have worried about falling in the first place. What it boiled down to for him was not to cause his friends any further worry on his behalf. He knew, though, that in the end, it was a futile hope.
Before the elf could do or say anything, Aragorn was standing by his side, arms raised, ready to grasp the elf and help him down. He grinned, when Legolas sighed and allowed the man to aid him to the ground.
Legolas pointed to the base of a large, sturdy oak. The ranger helped him to the indicated spot and lowered the elf to sit on a soft patch of ground between two large roots that snaked their way from the tree for several feet before disappearing into the earth. The elf released a deep breath, as his body relaxed against the rough bark.
The pain in his shoulder, which he had tried vainly to ignore while they were traveling, now reasserted itself in full. He resolutely held back a grimace of discomfort.
"I will gather some wood for a fire," Elrohir said. It would be dark in less than an hour, and he knew they would all want a fire blazing before the night descended. He, like the others, believed they were fairly safe where they were, but there was no guarantee. Besides allowing them to cook their evening meal, the fire would give ordinary, hunting carnivores second thoughts about attacking what they might otherwise consider easy prey.
While the younger twin was gone, Elladan and Aragorn took care of the horses, pulling all the packs off of them, along with the ranger’s saddle and bridle and then sending the mounts off to the stream to refresh themselves and then graze. The packs were set together at the edge of the clearing.
The ranger then began going through the packs to find what food might still be left. He didn’t think there would be much left, and was a bit dismayed, when he found that to be true. He and his brother also brought out their small cooking pot, cups, utensils and plates.
"There doesn’t seem to be much to put on those plates," the ranger commented somewhat forlornly, looking at the flat metal disks and trying not to picture them heaped up with the kind of delicious fare to be found at his father‘s table in Rivendell. He hadn’t eaten since the night before, and remembering what he ate when he was home only made him hungrier.
Aragorn had already forcefully pushed aside the thought that there wasn’t much point in eating, considering what was going to happen to them. Their fate may have been decided, but for as long as they had left, things were going to be as normal as he could make them, and that included meals.
Elladan caught the look the ranger had given the empty plates and laughed. "Do not worry, Estel. I will find us something to eat."
"Thank you," Aragorn replied gratefully. His tone was light. However, his whole demeanor changed, when he looked over at Legolas.
The blond elf was still sitting with his back against the old oak tree. Now he had both arms extended down beside him, the palms of his hands resting on the two exposed roots he sat between, and his fingers spread around the rough bark. His head was back, and his eyes were closed. It appeared to the ranger that the elf was trying to draw strength from the tree, something he had seen Legolas do many times. ‘Good,’ he thought. ‘He needs all the strength he can get. As do we all,’ he added with a sigh.
Just then Elrohir arrived with an arm load of twigs and small branches. He set them down and pulled his knife from its sheath. Plunging it into the ground, the elf began to dig a small depression where he arranged the smallest twigs. Using his flint stone, he had a fire going in short order.
While the fire was being coaxed into being, Aragorn took all four of the water skins and followed the sounds of the bubbling water to its source. The crystal clear water was only a foot or so deep, making it easy to see the colorful stones that littered the course of the streambed. The horses, he noted, were several yards downstream, grazing on the tender new grass that lined both sides of the water.
Aragorn bent down, unstoppered the container belonging to him and held it underwater with the opening against the current until it was full. Replacing the stopper on it, he quickly repeated the process with each of the remaining skins.
Soon the ranger was back in the little clearing. He thought briefly of stopping to see if Legolas wanted any of the fresh water, but when he saw how at one with the tree Legolas was and not wanting to interrupt, he simply dry the water skin down within Legolas’s reach and moved toward the fire.
He smiled when he heard Legolas say, "Thank you, Estel." He looked back and saw the elf’s eyes still closed. He was used to his friend’s senses informing him what was going on around him, but still it never failed to amaze him. It brought home to him yet again that he had never once been able to sneak up on the wood elf, even if Legolas had no idea he was anywhere in the area.
His laugh made the elf smile. He knew exactly what Estel was thinking.
A few minutes later, Elladan returned with three fish and a large bunch of wild onions in his hands. He stared at his human brother, who was groaning loudly. "What?" Elladan asked.
"Oh nothing. I was expecting rabbits, that’s all."
"Why rabbits?"
"We could just skin them, hair and all, in a matter of seconds. Fish have to be scraped and scraped to get them scaled. It takes more time."
"Afraid of doing a little work, ranger?" Elladan asked, his tone more amused than mocking.
"No," the man replied indignantly. "I’m just hungry."
"You will not starve, Estel." Elrohir suddenly clamped his mouth shut. He looked horrified at the implication of his words: that they wouldn‘t be alive long enough to starve. "I am sorry. I..."
"It’s all right, Elrohir," Aragorn assured him. "We are going to carry on as normal as possible for as long as we have left. No apologies." The last two words were spoken like a command.
"I do not want us to alter the way we act with each other," came a voice from several feet away. When the three brothers turned and looked, they saw Legolas smiling at them. "I want us to be...us."
"Agreed," Aragorn remarked, and without missing a beat, said. "So I repeat, I’m hungry."
"That is certainly normal," Legolas said. His comment drew a glare from the ranger.
The three elves couldn’t hold back their laughter, and Aragorn thought that the musical sound of it would be one of the things he would miss the most about being separated from these elves. He was warmed, though, by the thought that at least the three of them would be together.
It took a little longer to prepare than skinning a rabbit would have, but soon the fish had been cleaned by the twins and were now skewered on a stick stripped of bark and rigged so that they hung horizontally over the fire.
Soon enough to please even the hungry human, the fish were sizzling over the flames, creating an enticing stoms that was carried in the smoke swirling around the clearing. It made all four of the companion’ mouths water.
By the time the formerly empty plates were filled with the smoky fish, the sun had set. Darkness tried to encroach on the clearing, but the flickering flames held it at bay, as they cast their golden glow around the circle. The firelight mingled with the silver light of the full moon, which filtered through the leafy boughs above.
The wild onions had been boiled with flavorful herbs and were soft and pungent, making them a perfect compliment to the flame-roasted fish.
Legolas, using the tree for both comfort and support, hadn’t moved from the large oak, but the clearing was small enough so that he was close to both the fire and his friends. He ate his food slowly and was still eating when the others had finished.
He noticed that Aragorn was itching to make some comment, but the man held his tongue. The elf was grateful for that. He wasn’t well. He was, of course, dying. Denying it would be senseless, at this point, and bringing it up, yet again, would only cause more heartache, so he held his own tongue. They had all agreed to ignore their condition, so they could be themselves for as long as they could do so.
Smiling, Legolas said, "You certainly know how to find a tasty meal, Elladan".
"Thank you, Legolas," the elder twin replied. "I am glad that someone appreciates my efforts." The elf couldn’t hold back a grin. "I worked very hard to catch those fish."
"Catch? You shot them with arrows." the ranger pointed out, knowing exactly how his brother had ‘caught’ the fish.
"You can always go and shoot your own meal, you know."
"Now, Elladan, I’ve always valued your efforts," Aragorn told his oldest brother. "Actually it’s Elrohir who complains behind your back about you being a slacker and always taking the easy way of doing things." If they were going to act normal, instigating an argument between the twins was definitely in order.
"Oh does he now?" Elladan turned a particularly withering gaze on his younger twin. "Next time I will let you go and find us something to eat. I will wager you cannot find anything worth eating."
"That is a definite wager," Elrohir answered, excepting the challenge with relish. "Just because you are older..."
The argument continued for a while, eliciting a huge triumphant grin from the human, proud of himself for stirring the whole thing up. There was also a small smile from the blond prince.
Aragorn had scooted back a bit until he was almost even with Legolas.
The elf shook his head and laughed softly. "You should be ashamed of yourself, Estel," though he knew the ranger wasn’t the least bit ashamed.
Aragorn had been stirring up trouble between his elven brothers for as long as Legolas had known him, and if the twins were aware their brother deliberately manipulated them to get them going so he could sit back and enjoy the show, they never gave any indication.
In truth, they had figured out long ago what Estel was doing, but they enjoyed the ‘arguments’ with each other, so they said nothing to dampen their human brother‘s enthusiasm and sense of triumph.
Once every morsel of the meal was consumed and the plates and utensils cleaned in the stream by Aragorn, the four companions sat quietly together.
One of the things the four had always done was talk about the future. They told each other of the things they planned to do or the places they hoped to go. That was off limits now. They had no future, so discussing it in terms of ‘I wish I could...’ or "I had hoped to...’ would be a waste of time. No one wanted to admit it, but it also just plain hurt too much, because no matter how much they had come to terms with their forthcoming demise, none of them wanted to face this death.
The only thing to do now was talk about the past. And talk about it they did, covering so many of the adventure that came to mind.
They also revealed little secrets they had kept from each other and confessed to things they had been guilty of doing, when someone else had been accused of the deed. Consequently there were a lot of expressions of, "You are the one that did that?"
They sang, and they laughed. It would have been impossible for an outsider to understand how they could have engaged in such a joyous evening under their present circumstances. If they had known these four well, it would have been completely understandable. To the four themselves, it was simply one of the happiest fireside evenings they had spent, even those they recalled in the Last Homely House’s Hall of Fire.
Despite the fact they were determined to stay up all night and greet the sun, while continuing their time together, the toxin in their bodies continued doing its work. So long before dawn, all three elven warriors and the human ranger were deep in troubled, restless sleep.
TBC