Post by Móreadhiel on Jun 13, 2006 14:51:05 GMT -5
“Oooo….OW!”
Elrond chuckled and stilled his own movements, bending down to look into Aragorn’s eyes. The boy’s senses were absolutely amazing. Even though he was blind, Aragorn could sense his father looking into his eyes and he tried his hardest to look back.
“If you’d be still a moment, or maybe even two, I could finish and we could all go back to tending the mute and leave the blind.”
Legolas smiled and so did Thranduil, he hugged his son round the shoulders tightly.
“So, Legolas-” the prince looked up as Elrond addressed him. “Have you met Lord Glorfindel?”
The balrog-slayer chuckled and nodded. “If a few hurried hand motions count, then why yes. We have met.”
Elrond shook his head and titled his head towards the Vanya, “This smart-alec is known as, the once great, but now lazy and rude, Glorfindel. He, supposedly, slew a balrog, though I see no way he could have accomplished such a great deed.”
The elf lord was relieved to hear Legolas laugh a little, Glorfindel glowered.
“I most certainly did kill a balrog!” he snorted. “How impolite you are, Lord Elrond.”
Aragorn sighed with his mouth closed and tried to itch the bandage that now adorned his head.
“No. No.” The lord of Imladris grabbed his son’s hand. “Leave it.” He rose to his feet and helped the man up, careful of his broken arm.
“Legolas, why don’t you and Estel take a walk. It is beautiful outside and the sun would do wonders for you both. Your father and I will talk on the veranda above so if you need us, we will be but a holler away.”
Thranduil raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to protest, he looked to Estel then to Elrond.
“Go ahead, Estel, be sure to show the prince the waterfall; he will love that.”
“But, father-”
“Now, Aragorn!”
Elrond never used his real name in front of visitors, not even the most trustworthy. Barely a handful of elves knew his true heritage.
With a an annoyed grunt he nodded. “Yes, Ada.” he turned to where he heard Legolas and motioned for the younger elf to follow. “Come, Prince Legolas.”
The younger blonde elf followed the boy, a little hesitantly at first, but when he saw the reassuring smile on Elrond’s wise face he hurried along.
“Elrond?! Why do you give my son permission to do things that I would never let him do and that I ask him not to do? I trust Estel, but please! He is blind, Elrond! He is going to get them lost-”
“Oh, for Eru’s sake, Thranduil, will you for once let me be the healer! I know that your trust in my son’s abilities is not strong, but for once. Let me do what must be done! I know I am not Legolas’s father, that is why I do these things. I do them because YOU can not.”
The elven king backed up a step, his own eyes wide. Had he really held his own son back? Had Legolas not moved on because of him. Elrond seemed to let Estel do as he pleased, and he could not see!
Glorfindel, who had been watching from the side with lucid eyes, shifted his body and coughed softly from his corner.
“Should I leave, milord?” he asked quietly, looking at both elves with his hard gaze.
“No, I would like you to join us, please.” Elrond requested turning around and letting Thranduil follow. “Would you first have one of the servants come and change the king’s bed sheets.”
“Yes, lord.” with that, the balrog-slayer excused himself and ran down the hall to inform one of the maids.
As they were leaving the room Elrond made one last comment. “I am sure you will sleep better tonight, without human blood on your sheets.”
The elven king sneered a bit but left the comment alone, he would ask Estel later, right now one question pressed hard on his mind. ‘Who was Aragorn?’
~_~
Legolas walked quietly along the path, the summer sun beat down upon the two and he noticed how Estel seemed to enjoy the gentle rays upon his face.
The elf wanted to speak, how he wished to ask questions. But all he could do was feel bombarded as they hit against the back of his mind and continued to clog.
Aragorn, sensing the annoyance in the prince’s breath, smiled and inclined his head. “You have questions, young prince?”
thingying his head a bit to the side in wonder, Legolas nodded softly.
“Well, since I can not exactly tell if that was a yes or a no, I will begin. Stop me if you like. It is not a tale I relish in.”
The elf prince trotted forward so he could walk side by side with the young human. His curiosity was now perked and he listened as the man spoke.
“When I was two, my parents and a few-” he paused a moment, seeking the correct word. “a few friends were traveling about two hours from here. I remember their gentle laughter and few of the words, though they were gurgled in my own ears. I watched as the birds flew, not knowing how thankful I should truly be for my seeing abilities, I was young and had no cares.” he sighed and rubbed his dark head carefully with his uninjured hand. “But that did not last.”
“We were attacked by a fierce amount of orcs, and before Elladan and Elrohir could come, I was captured. The thing I saw was my mother’s dying eyes as she cried my name, an orc arrow ending her young life.” Estel took a deep breath and continued.
“The next thing I knew, something was poured into my eyes and I was rendered helpless and blind. I was rescued a couple days later, but my sight was never regained.”
Legolas winced outwardly, knowing that Aragorn could not see it was a blessing, but he was wrong.
“Do not cringe for my sake, Prince Legolas. I am healed of my old wounds and now only get constant headaches.”
The roaring of the waterfall brought the blonde elf’s attention up and he looked at the beautiful falls with wonder.
They crashed against the jutting rocks, flowers near the pool beneath spread different scents and they filled Legolas’s nose.
After a while, the prince noticed, with some worry, that he was alone. He turned to see Estel, standing a far ways a way, his mouth open a little and his teeth clenched.
The elf blinked inquisitively as he watched the look of pain etched on the young man’s pale face.
Walking back to his new found companion Legolas touched the boy’s shoulder gently, as if to ask ‘what is wrong?’
Aragorn seemed to know what it meant, his trance faded and his brow bent in hurt. “The waterfall, it hurts my ears.” he whispered.
Instantly, the prince placed his arm around the human’s shoulders and lead him away.
Now he knew why Estel had complained, it hurt him. His ears, taking over the place of his useless eyes, now were more sensitive and took in a louder sound. Like a dog’s ears, sharp and all-hearing.
Legolas opened his mouth to say ‘Let’s go back.’ But nothing came out. He sighed and patted Aragorn upon the back, rubbing gently to reassure the man.
“Yes, Legolas. Let us go back.” The man said as the slowly continued down the garden path away from the waterfall.
Confusion wrapped around the elf for a moment, then he realized something. Aragorn could tell what he was saying just by simple touches. His hearing as well as his senses for touch had been heightened.
‘Finally, we understand one another, Estel.’ Legolas leaned his head against Aragorn’s shoulder.
“I think we do, Legolas, I really think we do.”
~_~
Elrond looked over the balcony, he watched as the two boys below walked towards the house.
Aragorn seemed drained, and it worried him a little. But Legolas seemed to be helping him through it.
The man chuckled at something the elf had done and he grinned wide as Legolas opened the door and let them both in.
“Elrond?” he turned silver eyes upon the elven king that sat on a maroon colored couch inside the library. His eyes were filled with confusion. “I have questions, and I want them answered.”
“I know.” the elf lord ran a pale hand through his hair and slowly walked back towards the king.
Sitting down on a chair and flipping through a book of medical procedures that might help Thranduil’s speechless son.
“I suppose,” he began. “You want to know who ’Aragorn’ is what he has to do with my son?”
The elven king nodded politely and listened as the sounds of tired laughter came from the main hall.
“If I tell you, Thranduil, you must swear by life or death never to tell another living soul what is spoken of this day. Do you except this responsibility?”
By now, the king was so curious he could hardly breath. “Aye, I will tell no living soul, be it mortal or immortal.”
“This is well,” Elrond smiled and bent the corner of an old yellowed page in his book.
Silently, he rose from his seat and paced over to the window, closing the shades fully he then turned to the door and, as soon as he made his way to it, closed it with a soft click of the lock.
“Now,” The elf lord spoke, sitting back in the chair he flipped through the book once more. “You know of the tale of Isildur and the One Ring?”
“Aye.”
“Well, Aragorn is the name of the heir of Isildur. Can you now guess why I have called Estel by this name?”
Thranduil blanched visibly and his eyes went wide. “You can not mean that this, Estel, is indeed-” he stopped. “How can it be, I thought he was dead?!”
“Not at all.” Elrond chuckled at the other elf’s face and shook his head. “He lives among us now, and if I am not mistaken, he is making good friends with your son.”
“No. But he was dead!” the king shot back, confusion eating at his mind.
“We only said that to throw everyone off track, we even went as far as burying the body. And mourning, but it was not Aragorn we mourned for. It was another elf, one that had died in the attack.”
Thinking about it for a moment, the blonde elf bit his lip. “Estel…..” he whispered. “Clever, Elrond. ‘Hope’, The Hope of Men, no doubt.”
“Why yes. The only thing is his disability, it worries me. How is he to be ‘The Hope of Men’ if he can not see? I am even afraid to let him leave Imladris, he has never been on a hunt alone, you saw what happened with the chair. He could have injured himself seriously had it been anything else.”
“Elrond, I seem to remember a wise elf lord showing me how one should treat their son. Give him a chance, he has already shown more strength and wisdom than any man I have ever met.” the elven king smiled and put and arm around Elrond.
Glorfindel watched from the corner, he smiled as the two elves put an arm around each other.
There was much healing going on, though it might take time, they were all going to become friends someday. He could see it so well in the back of his mind.
“Father?!” Elrond looked up as Aragorn’s soft voice came through the doorway. “Dinner is ready, Legolas and I are going down.”
The elf lord smiled. “Alright. We will be down in a moment.”
Beyond the doorway, all three elves could hear Legolas’s gentle laughter as Aragorn said something almost imperceptible.
“What was that, Estel?” Glorfindel asked, his voice hard and questioning.
Another snicker followed by a soft yelp came through. “Nothing. Just teaching Legolas - something.” Aragorn stuttered as he searched for words.
“Really?” Thranduil asked, slowly creeping towards the door.
Hurried footsteps down the hall and a few chuckles were heard.
“And so it begins.” Glorfindel had to laugh as his mind was filled with recounts of the elven twins and their pranks. ‘Oh Eru, have mercy on us!’
Elrond chuckled and stilled his own movements, bending down to look into Aragorn’s eyes. The boy’s senses were absolutely amazing. Even though he was blind, Aragorn could sense his father looking into his eyes and he tried his hardest to look back.
“If you’d be still a moment, or maybe even two, I could finish and we could all go back to tending the mute and leave the blind.”
Legolas smiled and so did Thranduil, he hugged his son round the shoulders tightly.
“So, Legolas-” the prince looked up as Elrond addressed him. “Have you met Lord Glorfindel?”
The balrog-slayer chuckled and nodded. “If a few hurried hand motions count, then why yes. We have met.”
Elrond shook his head and titled his head towards the Vanya, “This smart-alec is known as, the once great, but now lazy and rude, Glorfindel. He, supposedly, slew a balrog, though I see no way he could have accomplished such a great deed.”
The elf lord was relieved to hear Legolas laugh a little, Glorfindel glowered.
“I most certainly did kill a balrog!” he snorted. “How impolite you are, Lord Elrond.”
Aragorn sighed with his mouth closed and tried to itch the bandage that now adorned his head.
“No. No.” The lord of Imladris grabbed his son’s hand. “Leave it.” He rose to his feet and helped the man up, careful of his broken arm.
“Legolas, why don’t you and Estel take a walk. It is beautiful outside and the sun would do wonders for you both. Your father and I will talk on the veranda above so if you need us, we will be but a holler away.”
Thranduil raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to protest, he looked to Estel then to Elrond.
“Go ahead, Estel, be sure to show the prince the waterfall; he will love that.”
“But, father-”
“Now, Aragorn!”
Elrond never used his real name in front of visitors, not even the most trustworthy. Barely a handful of elves knew his true heritage.
With a an annoyed grunt he nodded. “Yes, Ada.” he turned to where he heard Legolas and motioned for the younger elf to follow. “Come, Prince Legolas.”
The younger blonde elf followed the boy, a little hesitantly at first, but when he saw the reassuring smile on Elrond’s wise face he hurried along.
“Elrond?! Why do you give my son permission to do things that I would never let him do and that I ask him not to do? I trust Estel, but please! He is blind, Elrond! He is going to get them lost-”
“Oh, for Eru’s sake, Thranduil, will you for once let me be the healer! I know that your trust in my son’s abilities is not strong, but for once. Let me do what must be done! I know I am not Legolas’s father, that is why I do these things. I do them because YOU can not.”
The elven king backed up a step, his own eyes wide. Had he really held his own son back? Had Legolas not moved on because of him. Elrond seemed to let Estel do as he pleased, and he could not see!
Glorfindel, who had been watching from the side with lucid eyes, shifted his body and coughed softly from his corner.
“Should I leave, milord?” he asked quietly, looking at both elves with his hard gaze.
“No, I would like you to join us, please.” Elrond requested turning around and letting Thranduil follow. “Would you first have one of the servants come and change the king’s bed sheets.”
“Yes, lord.” with that, the balrog-slayer excused himself and ran down the hall to inform one of the maids.
As they were leaving the room Elrond made one last comment. “I am sure you will sleep better tonight, without human blood on your sheets.”
The elven king sneered a bit but left the comment alone, he would ask Estel later, right now one question pressed hard on his mind. ‘Who was Aragorn?’
~_~
Legolas walked quietly along the path, the summer sun beat down upon the two and he noticed how Estel seemed to enjoy the gentle rays upon his face.
The elf wanted to speak, how he wished to ask questions. But all he could do was feel bombarded as they hit against the back of his mind and continued to clog.
Aragorn, sensing the annoyance in the prince’s breath, smiled and inclined his head. “You have questions, young prince?”
thingying his head a bit to the side in wonder, Legolas nodded softly.
“Well, since I can not exactly tell if that was a yes or a no, I will begin. Stop me if you like. It is not a tale I relish in.”
The elf prince trotted forward so he could walk side by side with the young human. His curiosity was now perked and he listened as the man spoke.
“When I was two, my parents and a few-” he paused a moment, seeking the correct word. “a few friends were traveling about two hours from here. I remember their gentle laughter and few of the words, though they were gurgled in my own ears. I watched as the birds flew, not knowing how thankful I should truly be for my seeing abilities, I was young and had no cares.” he sighed and rubbed his dark head carefully with his uninjured hand. “But that did not last.”
“We were attacked by a fierce amount of orcs, and before Elladan and Elrohir could come, I was captured. The thing I saw was my mother’s dying eyes as she cried my name, an orc arrow ending her young life.” Estel took a deep breath and continued.
“The next thing I knew, something was poured into my eyes and I was rendered helpless and blind. I was rescued a couple days later, but my sight was never regained.”
Legolas winced outwardly, knowing that Aragorn could not see it was a blessing, but he was wrong.
“Do not cringe for my sake, Prince Legolas. I am healed of my old wounds and now only get constant headaches.”
The roaring of the waterfall brought the blonde elf’s attention up and he looked at the beautiful falls with wonder.
They crashed against the jutting rocks, flowers near the pool beneath spread different scents and they filled Legolas’s nose.
After a while, the prince noticed, with some worry, that he was alone. He turned to see Estel, standing a far ways a way, his mouth open a little and his teeth clenched.
The elf blinked inquisitively as he watched the look of pain etched on the young man’s pale face.
Walking back to his new found companion Legolas touched the boy’s shoulder gently, as if to ask ‘what is wrong?’
Aragorn seemed to know what it meant, his trance faded and his brow bent in hurt. “The waterfall, it hurts my ears.” he whispered.
Instantly, the prince placed his arm around the human’s shoulders and lead him away.
Now he knew why Estel had complained, it hurt him. His ears, taking over the place of his useless eyes, now were more sensitive and took in a louder sound. Like a dog’s ears, sharp and all-hearing.
Legolas opened his mouth to say ‘Let’s go back.’ But nothing came out. He sighed and patted Aragorn upon the back, rubbing gently to reassure the man.
“Yes, Legolas. Let us go back.” The man said as the slowly continued down the garden path away from the waterfall.
Confusion wrapped around the elf for a moment, then he realized something. Aragorn could tell what he was saying just by simple touches. His hearing as well as his senses for touch had been heightened.
‘Finally, we understand one another, Estel.’ Legolas leaned his head against Aragorn’s shoulder.
“I think we do, Legolas, I really think we do.”
~_~
Elrond looked over the balcony, he watched as the two boys below walked towards the house.
Aragorn seemed drained, and it worried him a little. But Legolas seemed to be helping him through it.
The man chuckled at something the elf had done and he grinned wide as Legolas opened the door and let them both in.
“Elrond?” he turned silver eyes upon the elven king that sat on a maroon colored couch inside the library. His eyes were filled with confusion. “I have questions, and I want them answered.”
“I know.” the elf lord ran a pale hand through his hair and slowly walked back towards the king.
Sitting down on a chair and flipping through a book of medical procedures that might help Thranduil’s speechless son.
“I suppose,” he began. “You want to know who ’Aragorn’ is what he has to do with my son?”
The elven king nodded politely and listened as the sounds of tired laughter came from the main hall.
“If I tell you, Thranduil, you must swear by life or death never to tell another living soul what is spoken of this day. Do you except this responsibility?”
By now, the king was so curious he could hardly breath. “Aye, I will tell no living soul, be it mortal or immortal.”
“This is well,” Elrond smiled and bent the corner of an old yellowed page in his book.
Silently, he rose from his seat and paced over to the window, closing the shades fully he then turned to the door and, as soon as he made his way to it, closed it with a soft click of the lock.
“Now,” The elf lord spoke, sitting back in the chair he flipped through the book once more. “You know of the tale of Isildur and the One Ring?”
“Aye.”
“Well, Aragorn is the name of the heir of Isildur. Can you now guess why I have called Estel by this name?”
Thranduil blanched visibly and his eyes went wide. “You can not mean that this, Estel, is indeed-” he stopped. “How can it be, I thought he was dead?!”
“Not at all.” Elrond chuckled at the other elf’s face and shook his head. “He lives among us now, and if I am not mistaken, he is making good friends with your son.”
“No. But he was dead!” the king shot back, confusion eating at his mind.
“We only said that to throw everyone off track, we even went as far as burying the body. And mourning, but it was not Aragorn we mourned for. It was another elf, one that had died in the attack.”
Thinking about it for a moment, the blonde elf bit his lip. “Estel…..” he whispered. “Clever, Elrond. ‘Hope’, The Hope of Men, no doubt.”
“Why yes. The only thing is his disability, it worries me. How is he to be ‘The Hope of Men’ if he can not see? I am even afraid to let him leave Imladris, he has never been on a hunt alone, you saw what happened with the chair. He could have injured himself seriously had it been anything else.”
“Elrond, I seem to remember a wise elf lord showing me how one should treat their son. Give him a chance, he has already shown more strength and wisdom than any man I have ever met.” the elven king smiled and put and arm around Elrond.
Glorfindel watched from the corner, he smiled as the two elves put an arm around each other.
There was much healing going on, though it might take time, they were all going to become friends someday. He could see it so well in the back of his mind.
“Father?!” Elrond looked up as Aragorn’s soft voice came through the doorway. “Dinner is ready, Legolas and I are going down.”
The elf lord smiled. “Alright. We will be down in a moment.”
Beyond the doorway, all three elves could hear Legolas’s gentle laughter as Aragorn said something almost imperceptible.
“What was that, Estel?” Glorfindel asked, his voice hard and questioning.
Another snicker followed by a soft yelp came through. “Nothing. Just teaching Legolas - something.” Aragorn stuttered as he searched for words.
“Really?” Thranduil asked, slowly creeping towards the door.
Hurried footsteps down the hall and a few chuckles were heard.
“And so it begins.” Glorfindel had to laugh as his mind was filled with recounts of the elven twins and their pranks. ‘Oh Eru, have mercy on us!’
