Never Let Go *My LOTR fic*

[GhostOfAMemory]

Hiye! This is my first LOTR fic, and, erm... read it!

�Nana nana nana nana nana na-�

The little elfling stopped in his tracks. He had been running down the halls of his home, calling for his mother, when he suddenly realized she was gone. She had left yesterday for Rivendell, suffering from a poison her husband and the rest of the kingdom hoped could be cured by Elrond; their own healers had tried all they could, and failed.

The Elvenqueen of Mirkwood was away, and the little prince Legolas had something very important to tell his mother. Just then, King Thranduil passed down a near hall, and the elfling scurried after him.

�Ada ada ada ada ada ada ada!�

Little Legolas came to a rough stop as he collided with his daddy�s leg. The king was rather surprised at the thump he felt as his young son collided into him, but once he looked down, immediately picked up the elfling and held him.

�Ada, I have to tell you something!� said the young prince.

�What is it, ion-nin?� replied an amused Thranduil.

�I� I��

�Yes, Greenleaf?�

�I� Ada, I can�t remember!� Legolas pouted furiously, as he scrunched up his face in concentration, trying to remember what was so important just a few seconds ago. Thranduil, meanwhile, tickled his son�s stomach, laughing joyfully at the elfling.

�I�m sure it will come to you, penneth, just give it time.�

�Alright, Ada�� Thranduil set Legolas down, and they started walking in the direction Thranduil had been headed.

�Ada, where are we going?�

�Well, penneth, I am going to a hearing.�

�What�s that?� The elfling asked.

�When two or more elves have a problem, and they can�t settle it themselves, they ask for a hearing to help them.� Thranduil replied to his son.

�Ohh. Is that what you do all the time?� Thranduil laughed, amused by his son�s question.

�Nay, Legolas! There are others who handle such things; but if they also cannot decide, the matter is brought to me, and I tell them what to do.�

�Ohh. It sounds boring.� The elfling started to consider ways of getting away from his father. Thranduil, meanwhile smiled, a glint in his eye.

�It is, Greenleaf. We sit there for hours, while the elves take turns talking.� Thranduil knew that unless he somehow convinced Legolas to stay out of the hearing room, he would barge in and disrupt the proceedings. Telling the elfling just how boring it was would surely do the trick.

�You can�t even play while you�re in hearing?� The elfling asked, shocked.

�Nay, penneth. Just listen. Quiet, and still.� Thranduil smiled to himself, knowing his plan had worked.

�Oh. Ada, I think I�m going to go play now.� The elfling began to edge away from his father.

�Alright, Greenleaf, but you must go straight to your sister and stay with her, unless Galion comes, understood?� Thranduil knew his son had the tendency to get into trouble when left to his own devices, but trusted him enough to find his sister without trouble. The two didn�t bicker much, surely not as much as he had with his own siblings, and he trusted his daughter with her little brother.

�Yes, Ada!�

As Legolas took off back in the opposite direction, Thranduil sighed as his thoughts turned to Adeyla, his wife. Ever since his father died and his mother sailed to Valinor, Thranduil�s worst fear had been to loose another of his family; particularly his wife or one of his children. Though Adeyla�s chances looked hopeful, Thranduil was not beyond worry. However, he knew she was in capable hands.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The pattering of small feet could be heard as Legolas ran through the halls of the large palace. No matter how many times his parents, his parent�s assistants, the healers, the cooks, and basically every other grown elf Legolas had ever come in contact with (particularly that scary Elrond) told him not to run inside, he did anyways. What can be said of a child and his freedom? As he ran, the elfling�s thoughts turned to his mother. He wasn�t old enough to really know what was happening (being only 4 or so by human reckoning) but he could tell enough to worry about her. He hoped she wouldn�t be too scared by Elrond; he still didn�t believe the grumpy old elf would be able to help his mother.

Legolas slowed as he reached his sister�s room. He always liked it best when she left the door cracked open, seeing as heavy wooden doors aren�t the easiest things for little elflings to open. Instead of trying, he decided on a different approach.

�Aaaariiii!� Legolas yelled for his sister Aridel as he pounded on the door with his small fists.

�Aaariiii! ARI!� Legolas sighed and stopped pounding. He figured that Aridel wasn�t going to open the door, and decided to go find Galion, the barrel hauler and part-time babysitter when the door burst open suddenly, nearly missing the elfling�s nose.

�What is it, Legolas?!� Aridel didn�t mind Legolas. In fact, she rather liked him; but your little brother pounding on your door while you�re trying to change would annoy anyone.

�What is it, gwador?� Aridel smiled at the semi-scared look on her little brother�s face.

�Ada is in hearing and told me to stay with you unless you want me to play with Galion instead, but you are more fun, so I want to stay with you an-� Aridel wasn�t surprised at Legolas�s sudden halt. He often stopped mid-sentence, and sometimes it was hard for others to follow him.

�Yes, Legolas?�

�I just remembered what I was gunna tell Ada!� Aridel smiled at her brother.

�And what is that, gwador?�

�Nana said that we would ride horses today before she left.� The elfling began to pout, unaware he was doing so. Aridel also looked worried at mention of their mother. Her, being older (around 14 by human reckoning) knew more of what was happening, and could only hope Elrond and the other healers in Rivendell could care for their mother. But she knew she couldn�t worry Legolas, so she smiled.

�How about we ride Melpomaen together, hmm?� Aridel knew Legolas was too young to ride a horse on his own, so he always rode with either one of his parents or his sister. Melpomaen was her horse, and happened to be Legolas�s favorite. The elfling�s eyes lit up at mention of the silky brown horse.

�Yah! Yah! Let�s ride Mel!� The elfling had a hard time pronouncing the horses name correctly, so he simply called him �Mel�. Aridel smiled at her brother�s enthusiasm.

�Alright, gwador, let me just change out of this dress into some riding clothes and we�ll be off, hmm?�

�Okay, Ari!� The elfling sat himself down outside of his sister�s door, and tapped his little feet as he waited.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ion-nin: my son
penneth: little one
gwador: brother
ada: dad/daddy
nana: mom/mommy

I'll post the next chapter as soon as I write it...

[GhostOfAMemory]

Chapter Two

Once Aridel had changed into appropriate riding clothes, she went to open her door and leave; however she found the door slightly harder to open this time than usual. Once she pushed it open, she stepped out and looked around to the other side, to see Legolas sitting there against the door. She burst into laughter as she realized she had pushed her little brother along with the door.

�Silly elfling! Are you ready to go?�

�Yah!� Legolas stood up quickly, and grabbed his big sister�s hand, pulling her to the stables. Aridel just rolled her eyes at her little brother, and jogged along with him.

Once they left the palace and began the short walk to the stables, Aridel received a few odd looks. Most elven girls wouldn�t be seen in anything other than a dress, even while riding, but Aridel preferred more practical clothing whenever she needed it. It took some convincing to get her parents to agree to it, and Thranduil still wasn�t entirely fond of the idea, but Aridel finally got them to let the seamstresses make her some �boy clothes�. However, Aridel didn�t think of them that way. They were comparable to the clothing the male elves wore, but they most deffinettly had a very feminine aspect to them. Most of the townsfolk were used to it, but every now and then some would think her daft.

Once they got to the stables, Aridel took Melpomaen out of his stall, and saddled him herself. She liked caring for her own horse whenever she could. Once she was finished, she lifted Legolas onto the horse and then agilely hopped up herself.

�Ari, can we go to Lake Town?� the elfling asked his sister.

�Nay, gwador. Lake Town is just a bit too far to go today. How about we ride to our place?� Aridel replied to her brother, knowing he would know where she meant.

�Yah, our place!� The elfling�s large blue eyes lit up at the mention of �our place�. Back when Adeyla and Thranduil were still newlyweds, before they had children, there was a field they would always have picnics in. There was one particular tree there that the two elves would climb together, as their own romantic getaway. When Aridel was only two (by human reckoning) Adeyla asked Thranduil to rig up a swing for the elfling. Ever since then, and especially since Legolas was born, the family simply referred to it as �our place�.

Aridel nudged the horse lightly with her feet, and they were off. They started at a trot, but as they edged out of the main village, Melpomaen was flying.

When they were more than halfway there, Legolas started to tug on Aridel�s hair.

�Ari, tell Mel to stop!�

�What for, Legolas?� The elfling looked slightly embarrassed when his sister asked him why he wanted to stop.

��Cause��

��Cause isn�t an answer, Legolas� Aridel poked the elfling in his side, and he indignantly pushed her hand away.

�I gotta go, Ari!� Aridel realized why her brother wanted to stop, and sighed, wondering why he didn�t go before they left.

�Fine, Legolas�� She nudged Melpomaen, and he stopped. Aridel then hopped down from the horse, and picked Legolas up off him, and set him down.

�You go behind that tree over there, and don�t wander off! Understand?� Aridel knew Legolas had the tendency to stray from whoever was watching him, and knew it would be a nightmare if he got lost in the forest.

�Okay, Ari� Legolas scuttled behind the tree, as Aridel sat down next to another tree and began to idly unbraid and rebraid her hair. She started to hum a song she heard the elves sing as they lifted the barrels, and after a few minutes, she wondered what could possibly be taking the elfling so long.

�Legolas?� She called out to her brother, and receiving no reply, stood up and looked behind the tree.

�Legolas! I told you not to wander off!� Aridel angrily walked around the woods for awhile before she started to worry.

�Legolas, if you can hear me, come here now! You�re gunna be in big trouble when we get home if Ada hears about this!� Just then Aridel stepped on something odd. She removed her foot and picked it up, looking at it intently.

�It�s a dagger�� She turned it over in her hands, trying to figure out the make. Just then she noticed a small amount of red on the blade, and gasped.

�Legolas! Legolas, where are-� Having been distracted by her discovery, Aridel failed to noticed the hooded figure step silently behind her until it was too late. She felt something hard and heavy slam into the back of her head, before she knew no more.