Disclaimer: Lord of the Rings and its characters are the property of Tolkien

Winter's Cold

by Starfox

The hunter silently took aim, careful not to make any noise. He released the arrow and the deer fell immediately, struck with an arrow to its heart. Legolas stepped into the clearing, approaching the deer and silently thanking it to give its life so that his people could live. The winter solstice was approaching and a lot of elves went out hunting to restock the provisions.

He whistled for Baranon, which he had left in another clearing a short way away.

His stallion approached quickly and Legolas hefted the deer and hoisted it on Baranon's back.

"I think it's time to return to the stronghold, my friend," he told his horse.

Baranon neighed in approval.

Legolas laughed quietly and mounted his horse. The weather had taken a turn to the worse and an icy wind was blowing through the wood. No wonder his stallion longed for his warm stable.

They slowly made their way back through the wood, when a noise drew Legolas' attention. It sounded like scrambling and he decided to investigate.

They followed the noise and finally they came to a clearing with a pond, which was frozen over. Obviously the ice wasn't stable yet, because a wolf had broken through the surface and was now desperately scrambling to get out. It was a normal wolf, not one of the creatures of the shadow. His forepaws were on the ice, but the rest of him was submerged in the water. It didn't seem as if he was able to get out on his own, his strength seemed to fade with each try to get out.

For a moment Legolas was frozen, considering his options. He couldn't let the animal die such a terrible death, so he quickly dismounted and approached along the side of the lake. The wolf had broken through the surface close to the shore.

He cautiously made his way onto the ice. It cracked slightly and he knew that he was in danger of breaking through the surface, too. Since it was close to the shore, he was fairly certain that he would be able to make it out again. So he went further and silently regarded the wolf, who was fighting for his live. He didn't know if he would bite him if he tried to pull him out on his front paws. So he closed the distance between them, conscious of the creaking beneath him and lowered himself into the water. It was so cold that he took a breath in surprise. He gripped the wolf from behind and pushed him upwards. The animal was able to struggle forward, pulling himself out of the water.

As soon as the wolf was out of the water, Legolas pushed himself forward, managing to scramble out himself. He was soaking wet, but he ignored it, feeling relieved that he had been able to save a life.

They were both standing at the shore, catching their breath for an instant. Wolf and elf regarded each other for a moment, then the wolf shook himself and slowly vanished into the wood.

Legolas watched him leave, hoping that the animal would survive even if it had been soaking wet.

Briefly he considered to light a fire, to get warm and dry his clothes, but since they were not even two hours away from the palace, he decided to head for home. Alter all, elves were resilient to cold weather.

He didn't know that he was making a serious mistake.

During the ride home, Legolas felt the cold affect him more and more. The wind blew bitter cold and his clothes were freezing. He had been soaking wet and now he truly felt the cold as his clothes stiffened and froze in the cold wind. It was an experience he was unused to, since he had never felt that way before.

As they finally reached the palace, he was shivering with cold and his teeth were chattering badly. He had trouble to stay on Baranon's back.

The guards opened the doors for them and Baranon headed for the stables, Legolas clinging to his back.

He tried to dismount but all he managed was to slide from Baranon's back, placing an arm around his horse's neck in an attempt to remain upright.

Belraw, the stable hand that had taken care of Baranon since his arrival in Mirkwood, came to care for the stallion and was taken aback by the sight of his prince.

"My lord, what has happened?"

Legolas wasn't able to answer, he had trouble staying on his feet.

Belraw didn't know what to do. He was a stable hand and gripping his prince seemed inappropriate but it was obvious that Legolas had trouble remaining upright.

To Belraw's relief Galdor and Tinwion appeared suddenly, both of them had been hunting, too, and had arrived a short time before Legolas.

"Legolas," Galdor exclaimed, taking one arm of his friend and hoisting it over his shoulder. Tinwion didn't hesitate to do the same on the other side of Legolas. "By the Valar, what happened?"

Legolas tried to answer but he couldn't form words, too badly did his teeth chatter.

"Let's bring him to the healing wards," Galdor instructed. "Belraw, go to the king and tell him what happened. Aglar," he called to another stable hand, "go and tell Celairdir that we are on the way. Tell him the prince is frozen stiff. Faenon, take care of Baranon and bring the deer to the kitchens."

All three stable hands obeyed immediately, while Galdor and Tinwion took care to get Legolas to the healing halls. It was slow going, Legolas was hardly able to put one foot in front of another but both elves knew that he would never allow them to carry him as long as he was conscious.

Finally they arrived at the healing halls and made their way slowly and carefully to the room reserved for Thranduil and Legolas.

Celairdir had already started a fire in the hearth, placed a mound of blankets in front of it and had also put stones near to the fire.

He studied Legolas critically, coming over and taking his arm from Galdor. "Please push a bed in front of the fireplace," he ordered. Tinwion let go, waiting for a moment if Celairdir was able to support the prince on his own, then both elves obediently shoved one of the beds over to the hearth.

Has the king been informed?" Celairdir asked.

"Yes, I sent a stable hand to him," Galdor answered.

"Thank you," Celairdir said, slowly moving forwards while supporting Legolas' weight. "You may leave now, I'll take care of him."

Hesitantly Galdor and Tinwion moved for the door. Reluctantly they left the room, leaving Celairdir and Legolas behind.

Celairdir helped Legolas over to the bed, sitting him down, then he started to remove Legolas' frozen clothes, silently wondering what had happened. As soon as he had him out of the wet clothes, he helped him to don new, dry ones that had been heated in front of the fireplace. Legolas tried to help, but he could barely move, shivering violently and his teeth chattering from the cold. He was ice cold to the touch and Celairdir knew that they had to get him warm quickly.

Thranduil was sitting in his study, reading over a trade agreement with Laketown that he had to sign. The agreement seemed fair to him, so he took his pen and signed the document.

A knock at his door pulled his attention away from the document.

"Enter," he called.

One of the guards to the royal wing entered and bowed. "Forgive the intrusion, Sire, but Belraw says he has a message for you."

"Send him in," Thranduil ordered.

The guard bowed and left the room. Shortly afterwards Belraw entered. The elf bowed deeply. "My king, Galdor sent me to tell you that prince Legolas arrived at the stables nearly frozen. They are on their way to the healing halls now."

Thranduil suppressed a groan of dismay. What had his son gotten into this time?

"Thank you," he told the elf. "You may leave now."

Belraw bowed again and left the study.

Thranduil slowly got to his feet, leaving the study and heading for the healing halls.

By the time the king reached the room where Celairdir treated Legolas, the younger elf was lying in the bed in front of the hearth, covered with heated blankets. He still shivered violently, unable to do anything else but burrow beneath the blankets.

"What happened?" Thranduil asked, moving to the bed and laying a hand on Legolas' cheek, noting that he was ice cold to the touch.

"I don't know," Celairdir answered. "It seems that he somehow got into water. His clothes were drenched and frozen. He can tell us later, right now we need to get him to warm up. Please replace the blankets when they get cold and don't let him fall asleep." He hat put a pot with water over the fireplace and after it heated, he poured water into a cup, took some herbs and let them steep. "I'm brewing a tea right now, to help get his temperature up."

Thranduil sat down on the bedside next to Legolas, putting a hand on the blankets to gauge the temperature. He leaned over Legolas, wincing in sympathy as he noted how much his son shivered. Legolas' eyes were half closed. "Legolas," Thranduil asked softly.

His son turned his head in his direction but it seemed that he had trouble focusing. "Cold..." he managed to get out between his shudders.

Thranduil stroked his face. "Hold on, Celairdir has something hot for you to drink, it will warm you up." He stood, gathering new blankets from the fire and exchanging them with the other ones. His son still was very cold to the touch and his shivers hadn't abated.

Celairdir came over with the tea and Thranduil put an arm behind Legolas' back and pulled him into a sitting position. Celairdir held the cup to his lips. "Slowly," he said, "it's still a bit hot." While Thranduil held his son up, Celairdir helped him to drink the tea. It was difficult because of Legolas' still chattering teeth. Finally the cup was empty and they lowered him down onto the bed, pulling the covers about him again.

Celairdir walked over to the fireplace, wrapping the hot stones in a blanket and putting the first blanket at Legolas' right side. The healer continued to wrap stones and place them around Legolas. The younger elf sighed softly and his shivering abated slightly, much to Thranduil's relief. With the tea inside and the heat of the stones slowly seeping into his body, he finally began to warm up and relax. The chattering of his teeth stopped and he relaxed against the mattress.

Thranduil put a hand on his brow and noticed that he was a bit warmer than he had been. "He's slowly warming up," he said softly.

Celairdir leaned over Legolas and felt his temperature for himself. "Yes, he's out of immediate danger now." He studied the younger elf who had trouble staying awake.

"Tired," Legolas murmured softly.

"You can sleep now," Celairdir said. "When you wake, you'll feel better."

With a sigh, Legolas closed his eyes and fell asleep. His eyes stayed closed, causing a look of alarm on Thranduil's face.

"Don't worry," Celairdir reassured him. "The cold took a lot out of him, so he'll sleep deeply for a while."

Thranduil nodded, preparing for the vigil until Legolas woke up. He stroked his hair, silently wondering what had led to his son being in such a condition.

Celairdir pulled a chair over and sat down next to Thranduil. "I wonder what has happened," he admitted quietly.

Thranduil nodded in agreement. "I'm sure Legolas will tell us, once he wakes."

They both settled in for the night, neither one wanting to leave until Legolas woke. After a while Celairdir exchanged the hot stones against newly heated ones, checking on Legolas' temperature again. He nodded in satisfaction. The younger elf was warm again and his shivers had stopped completely. Now he only needed to rest because his body had been through much and had used a lot of reserves to stay alive.

As Legolas woke, the first thing he noticed was the pleasant warmth that surrounded him. He sighed contentedly. He heard movement beside him and instantly saw his father leaning over him.

"Legolas?" Thranduil asked softly.

"Ada," Legolas sighed.

"How do you feel, my son?'" Thranduil asked gently.

"Better, I don't feel cold anymore."

Celairdir appeared next to Thranduil. "That's good, your condition yesterday was serious. Can you tell us what happened?"

Legolas tried to push himself up into a sitting position, but Thranduil prevented it by gripping his shoulder and gently pressing him down. "Stay down for the moment. After you had breakfast we will see how you're doing."

Legolas complied with a frown, then he started his tale. "I was just heading back to the palace when I heard an odd noise. As I investigated it, I discovered a wolf who had broken through the ice of a lake."

"So you risked your own life to save the wolf?" Thranduil asked incredulously.

"I couldn't let him die like that," Legolas stated. "Would you have been able to watch him drown?"

"Probably not," Thranduil admitted. He knew that if he would have found himself in the same situation as his son, he would have acted just the same.

I underestimated how the cold would affect me," Legolas explained. "After all, I have never felt anything like that before. If I had known, believe me, I would have stayed and started a fire to get warm and dry my clothes. Now I know better in case something like that ever happens again."

Thranduil nodded satisfied. Legolas' explanation was reasonable. Legolas had indeed no experience how frozen clothes and freezing wind could affect an elf. He hoped that his son had learned his lesson and would be more cautious in the future.

"When can I get out of here?" Legolas asked.

"If you feel well, you can go to your own chambers after breakfast, but I want you to remain inside the palace for the next two days," Celairdir said. "But I want you to take it easy, that means no work either."

Legolas frowned but before he could argue, Thranduil spoke up. "I will see to it, don't worry."

Legolas knew better than to disagree with his father so he silently relented.

Once again Legolas went out to hunt. But this time Thranduil had refused to let him go out on his own. He had insisted for his son to ride with a companion in case something happened again. Legolas hadn't been too pleased with that restriction but he had set out with Tinwion this time. The two had been quite successful, they had shot another deer and some rabbits.

As they neared the clearing where Legolas had rescued the wolf he asked Tinwion to stay behind for a moment and rode into the clearing. He dismounted and searched for tracks of the wolf for a while, quite certain that this was the territory this wolf and his family frequented.

After a while he found tracks leading into the forest and followed them. Like a ghost the wolf appeared suddenly a short distance away. They both gazed at each other for some moments.

"So you have survived the cold," Legolas murmured. "I'm glad to see that you are well."

He took two of the rabbits from Baranon's back and slowly walked forwards a bit. The wolf watched him silently, alert to his motions. Legolas laid both rabbits down on the floor and retreated back to Baranon. The wolf seemed to understand and slowly came forwards, taking the first rabbit into his mouth.

Legolas heard a slight noise and saw another wolf, obviously the mate of the one before him, and two cubs emerging out of the forest.

He sighed, took two more rabbits from Baranon's back and threw them carefully in the direction of the wolves.

The mother and her offspring approached cautiously, having their eyes warily on the elf before each of them took a rabbit. The wolf regarded him silently, then slowly, the whole family disappeared into the forest.

Legolas watched them vanish into the trees and smiled. All was well in the end.

End