"Unlikely Roommates."

Chapter 1

"The problems of Mirkwood."

Aragorn grunted as he was led to a dungeon, by two Mirkwood warriors.

He has been taken hostage by Thranduil the Elvenking of Mirkwood, for trespassing through his forest to get to his homeland in Rivendell. Elves in this part of Arda were less trusting towards men than in the land of Lord Elrond, and the young human was beginning to regret ever placing a foot in that damn forest.

Aragorn didn't even bother explaining everything to the Mirkwood leader, knowing that the proud king wouldn't even listen to his excuses mainly because he was already irritated by something else that happened. The angry frown on the handsome face told him that much, and an angry Thranduil is not something anybody could just handle.

The fearless, blonde elf had a temper that was well known around Middle Earth and nobody in their right mind would dare face him when he's furious.

An angry Thranduil, is a deadly Thranduil.

And, son of Elrond or no, Aragorn knew he wouldn't be spared from the elf's anger if he unleashed the raging storm that was hiding behind the elvenking's blue eyes. Not that he was stupid enough to do that.

He just hopes his father and twin brothers never find out, just how easily he let himself get caught.

The ranger was sure he wouldn't hear the end of it, if it did reach Rivendell.

After a few minutes of silent walking the loyal, Mirkwood soldiers opened the door of the nearest, empty dungeon and threw him, ever so gently, into the stack of hay he was now supposed to call "bed".

Sighting the human waited till the warriors disappeared behind the nearest corner, before focusing his attention on the guard standing a little to the right from his cell.

"So…How long do you think he's going to keep me in here?" Starting a friendly conversation to get a possible ally in the enemy's ranks, is one of the earliest things he learned while traveling with Rangers. It helped with getting the information you needed and kept his mind from going insane with boredom, during the times he was captured and not tortured ruthlessly by his captors, till he fainted.

The elf shrugged. "I don't know." Came a truthful answer. "Perhaps till the king realizes how illogical it is to be wasting an empty on someone who did nothing wrong, instead of on a person that actually deserves it. Like a serial killer or a burglar."

Aragorn agreed full-heartily, knowing that Thranduil only locked him in here, because he was too irritated to deal with the imposing human right there and then. That, and locking up a representation of a species long despised, served quite well as a stress-reliever.

The ranger knew the king will come to his senses and let him out, once he cooled down from whatever happened that set him off in the first place. Though he couldn't help but wonder how long he'll have to sit around in this cold, dark cell, waiting for it to occur. The Elvenking wasn't someone who could calm down after an hour of not thinking about the source of his anger, and whatever happened seemed to be quite serious if he resolved to giving his potential guests dungeon cells instead of rooms.

"But, I suppose you can't blame the king entirely for the actions he's committing these days." The guard suddenly said with a sight. "He's going through a very difficult time right now, and doesn't quite know how to handle it without his emotions and hot temper, getting the better of him."

Aragorn raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

The elf chuckled. "It all can be summed up in one single sentence, actually. It goes like this: 'The princeling just recently mastered and built his own weapon'."

"Ah…" The ranger nodded his head in understanding.

This particular event is very special in the elven culture for during this particular trial, after many years of training in gyms, young elves journey from boy to man. Those who passed would be treated like full grown adults and could be sent into the forest to face their first real enemies.

Aragorn could now see why the king was so upset earlier that day. He himself had a similar situation a couple of years back when he completed the trials, with his father Elrond.

The prince probably asked him to be sent on a patrol with other graduates and Thranduil predictably refused to let him go, fearing for his life like any good parent would. This disagreement quickly turned into a full blown argument, resulting in the son storming out of the palace and the father yelling for him to come back.

"I suspect our dear king is having his 'mother-hen' stage." The ranger said rubbing his chin with a gloved hand. He could only imagine the amount of stress the proud king was going through and, giving into account the painful past of the Mirkwood royal family, it was no wonder he was so fearful for his heir's life.

Like he stated before, Aragorn had the same problem two years ago with his own father.

With him being the only human to complete the trials, Elrond nearly had a fit when a younger Estel asked him if he could join Elladan and Elrohir on patrol. That however, didn't stop the adventure-hungry man from achieving his goal, sneaking out of the place and joining his brothers anyway.

The guard laughed and shook his head. "More like his: 'Overprotective-daddy-Thranduil' stage, my friend." He stated chuckling. "What he was doing to prevent young Greenleaf from leaving the protective walls of this castle, was far beyond the 'mother-hen' faze."

"Really?" Estel raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Well, last week he made sure every horse in the royal stables had at least one leg injured, so that Legolas would be unable to join the patrol. And when that didn't work he decided to outright drug his son during dinner and lock him in his room with the key hidden in the king's private desk."

Hearing this Aragorn had to admit that the first action was way beyond 'mother-hen' level of protectiveness, but the second one was less harsh for even his father often took that rout in order to stop either him or his brothers, from going on patrols when they're obviously not ready.

"Let me guess." The ranger moved to another, more comfortable position on the stack of hey. "They didn't work."

The elven guard sighted. "No. No they didn't. The only thing they did was wake up Legolas's, what we like to call, 'Inner-Thranduil'. Because when he gets angry, he's just as bad as his father."

Aragorn laughed. "I can almost imagine all the yelling that happens, when the prince reaches his breaking point."

"It sounded as if Thranduil was yelling at himself." The guard described. "Both equally livid, both insanely stubborn and both used to getting what they want." Another sight escaped the young elf's mouth. "Sometimes they can go on for hours, only stopping when their throats could no longer take the abuse."

The human nodded even though the elf could not see him. "It looked to me like today was such a day." He said, recalling his meeting with the elf king in his mind. "The elvenking's voice sounded scratchy when he barked for your colleagues to take me to my new room."

He could see the young guardian nod his head. "After a month of withstanding his father's pitiful attempts to keep him indoors, the prince decided it has gone long enough and went to confront him."

"How did it end?"

"With another argument, of course." The elf snorted. "And it will always end that way, if Lord Thranduil won't accept the fact that his son is no longer a defenseless elfling, only a strong, independent young man who can take care of himself."

"Sometimes it takes time for a father to ease up." Aragorn stated, drifting into sleep. "But he will eventually." A yawn interrupted his speech. "Prince Legolas just needs to give him time."

The last thing the ranger heard was the guard reply:

"I'm afraid that's one thing the prince is not willing to give anymore."