Title: Hunting a Different Prey

Author: MysticHeero

Chapter: six: Compassionate acts of a closed mind

Warnings: Angst! But it is milder this time. Implications and intended slash – but still no graphics.

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Nearly two weeks had passed since the orc attack and Galithil's death, and though Legolas was recovering well from his grief the others still worried for him. He was the youngest of Thranduil's family and dearly loved, so to see him in such sadness was heart-wrenching. Haldir was being patient in his aid, and never complained over Legolas' behaviour, or even lack of it, but simply continued to give his support. Legolas had gone through a small period of trying to push everyone away, with much more vigour then any had expected, but Haldir had won out against Legolas' grief ridden choices in the end. He had had to resort to practically shouting at Legolas to get through to the smaller blonde and he almost regretted it when he saw that he had scared the prince, but it had turned out well, with Legolas stopping his actions. Legolas was no longer arguing or fighting against anything they tried to get him to do, but rather went along with most of it in a subdued fashion, but at least it was an improvement.

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He hadn't really considered what the effects of his actions on the others were. Not until Haldir had, not so civilly, shouted at him to snap out of it. Legolas knew it was long past time to wallow in his grief, but getting past that was difficult for him, and he was afraid of doing so. He had tried to pull away from his family and the others, though they all objected to it, because he was frightened of loosing anyone else important to him. If he pushed them away, then it would leave him with no one to worry about in theory, though he doubted it would be true in reality. So after Haldir's rather abrupt wake up call, Legolas began to take more notice of those around him and he hated the deep worry he saw in their expressions, even though they tried to hide it from him. After a few days of observing the others and of thinking every thing over, Legolas realised that he was only causing both himself, and the rest more grief then it was all worth. True, he would miss his sister dearly - as would everybody - but it was passed the time for him to move on. The Lord and Lady of golden wood would be arriving in just under a week and it would not be very polite for them to be welcomed in such a gloomy atmosphere, even given the cause. No. It was time he started thinking of others besides himself. After all, he wasn't the only one to loose someone dear. His father had lost a daughter and his brothers suffered the same loss as himself, while Ruingil was grieving his wife. Yet given all that it was Legolas who grieved them most. He hated it - both grieving and loosing someone dear to him. They were all part of the Eldar race and so were blessed with immortality; however death was no entirely avoidable as Legolas had learned upon the loss of his mother years before. He simply wasn't used to mourning the deaths of his friends and family and so was not entirely sure how to deal with their losses. He had to move on though and he would, even though it was difficult to do so. He had spent most of the day remising over memories of his sister, and his mother at times too, and realised that he should be celebrating their lives, not mourning their loss, for one day they would all meet again in Valinor. Haldir had been more than patient with him, and so very understanding. He had told Legolas of the loss of his own parents, when he was still a child, and how he had had to take care of his brothers afterwards. The march warden had also passed on some sage advice that the Lady had given him at the time, which Legolas had ignored at first, thinking it to be not quite so sage. Now though it was helping, as it should have when he had heard it.

Legolas was brought out of his thoughts as the door opened, admitting Haldir with their evening meal - a simple platter of cold meats and buttered bread, with some fruit nectar to wash it all down - and a change of clothes for Legolas for the morning. His brothers had would not be able to drop them by before breakfast on the morrow as they had to duties to attend to first, so Haldir had fetched the clean clothes now instead. Smiling slightly, Legolas obediently ate what he was given, too lost in his thoughts to hold a conversation, and Haldir seemed to understand his silence. Once the meal was finished Legolas found himself wavering between wakefulness and sleepiness. It was always the case of late, as his energy was sapped by his grief. Haldir, already expecting this, aided him in readying for bed, before tidying everything else away and after placing the now empty tray of dishes out in the corridor for a servant to take care of, he too slipped into bed, holding Legolas close.

"Good night Las. Pleasant dreams." Haldir muttered to the prince, receiving in kind from Legolas before the younger elf drifted off into slumber.

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Haldir stirred early the next morning, as always and lingered in the warmth of the bed for a short while, admiring Legolas' sleeping form in his arms. Reluctantly, he got up and slowly made his way into the adjoining room for a bath. The servants knew his routine now and always had a hot steamy bath ready for when he woke and he was glad, as it meant that he didn't have to leave Legolas alone to search out a member of staff to request one. Legolas usually used the same water after he had gotten out, for it was still quite hot and neither of them were too filthy to begin with. Slipping out of his nightwear and into the blissfully hot water Haldir allowed himself to soak up the heat, closing his eyes in enjoyment as his muscles eased from their sleep-weakness. He stayed as such for a long time when he felt the water ripple to his surprise, as he had not moved and he opened his eyes in shock. Legolas leaned back against his chest pulling Haldir's arms around him, ignoring the stunned look on the March warden's face, and he reached for the wash cloth and soap.

"Las? What are you doing?" Haldir managed to finally get the words out as the other continued with his task of soaping up the cloth.

"Washing."

"But tis not appropriate for us to be sharing a bath this private." Haldir was dreading Thranduil's reaction, should he learn of this and his mind was giving him a rather detail depiction of the king finding out.

" I hope you don't mind, but it saves time this way, and it's more enjoyable with you holding me." The prince's voice was soft and Haldir could define the underlying grief that was still present in him.

"That all maybe true, but I don't think your father would see things that way." Haldir at least wanted to get the point out, even if he wasn't going to tell Legolas to leave.

"Are you going to tell him?"

"No. I happen to like my self the way I am right now. I don't need to be missing anything, thank you very much." The small chuckle from the prince lightened Haldir's mood considerably and the Lorien elf could tell something had changed within the smaller blonde. "What is it?"

"Nothing. I just…. It's time to move on. I can not keep wallowing in my own grief like I am."

"It gladdens me to hear that Las. As I know it will for your family also. They are most worried for you." Haldir affectionately stroked a fine cheek as Legolas leaned his face into the touch.

"I know." He replied quietly. "Come, we will not be on time for breakfast if we dally long."

"You want to eat with your family?" There was a slight disappointed tone to the question, but Legolas smiled in return.

"No. I want to eat with our families." The addition of Haldir's brothers to the breakfasting list was a delight to Haldir, as it meant Legolas did not wished to be out of Haldir's company. "Will you wash my back?"

"Aye. Give me the cloth." Haldir smiled and began to gently scrub the prince's skin clean. "You are aware of how this would look should someone walk in?"

"Let them think what they wish, I'm too comfortable to be bothered." That comment earned a chuckle from the Lorien elf, but he said nothing to counter it, but instead continued washing the elf before him. They settled into an easy silence as Haldir washed them both with the soapy cloth and they just relaxed in the water for a while enjoying the warmth as Haldir had been before Legolas had joined him. The slighter blonde cheekily wiped some of the soap bubbles on Haldir's nose, chuckling along with the warrior at the silliness of their play before they realised how long they had been in the tub. They reluctantly climbed out of the water before towelling themselves of and dressing in the day's clothing. Hand in hand they walked down to the family dining room, to find that they were the first there, though with the other members of the royal family attending to business early this morn it wasn't surprising they were not here yet. The pair took their seats beside one another, for Haldir found Legolas reluctant to release his hand so soon, not that he objected in the least, but rather was quite cheerful of it.

They had just began to break their fasts when the other members of Legolas and Haldir's families joined them, all pleasantly surprised at seeing them at the table. Thranduil had placed a fatherly kiss on the top of the head of his youngest as he walked past him to his own seat, muttering his joy at seeing Legolas outside of his self-seclusion in Haldir's room. Rumil and Orophin, sitting down on Haldir's free side, gave their brother a warming smile before nodding their greetings to Legolas and Orophin discretely squeezed Haldir's upper arm in support. The morning meal quickly set in and they all began to converse freely, even though Legolas mainly remained quiet.

Legolas wasn't blind to the reactions of the others present, it was far too obvious to not notice, but he didn't catch all of the looks thrown about the table, whether they were directed at him or another as he tried to keep his focus on his food. The reason for that was because his plate was not emptying, but rather filling up, though Legolas was not the one adding to the dish. It all seemed to magically happen when he adverted his eyes from in front of him to someone at his side, or across from him, and when he returned his gaze to his plate another scoop of some breakfasting material had appeared. Knowing that everyone else was mainly doing it out of worry for his health, as he had not eaten a great deal since news of the attack, Legolas let it slid mostly and he had to admit he was quite ravenous but the food amounts was beginning to out stretch his stomach capacity. While turning to face Haldir in response to a comment, Legolas tried to pin point which one of his brothers was piling the food on his plate, though he thought it to be a combination of the two of them and Haldir's side of the table. Spying movement to his left hand side, Legolas sharply turned his head in the direction, and caught the hand of the miscreant, only to find that both his brothers had their hands on their side of the table. Following the hand up Legolas met his father's eyes as the king grinned sheepishly at being caught and Legolas looked at him with a good imitation of his father's own disapproving glower. All conversation had stopped and they all watched on in amusement at the on going interaction.

"Toast?" Thranduil said, and where others laughed Legolas smiled, chuckling slightly despite himself at his father's answer.

"I think I can fill my own plate thank you." Legolas said, still smiling as he looked at his plate. "Though if I have any more I'll be sick from over indulgence." Guilty laughter filled the room as everyone looked a little less than innocent, but Legolas shook his head in amusement. Conversations soon took up once again, and Legolas found his plate growing steadily emptier, though the occasional bit was added, due to Haldir and Thranduil being unable to resist. Time came to depart the table, with various duties calling and Legolas was grateful of his father when the king asked if he could entertain the guests. The request had had an underlying meaning that Legolas caught, and he allowed himself to be conned into being taken care of by Haldir's small family.

"Will you join us for luncheon Las?" Malcalen asked of his youngest brother, hopefully of the answer. Legolas looked unsure; this was clearly still a struggle for him, but he complied none the less, for which the crown prince was thankful of. "I'll see you then. Sadly I have to deal with paper work all morning. It seems Father has been remiss in his share again." Legolas smiled at his brother's muttered comment, but it turned into a chuckle as Thranduil gave his eldest son a glower of disagreement. After watching his father and brothers leave, Legolas turned to the three guests, one of whom he felt he had been imposing on, and sort to occupy them until mid day meal.

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Reviewer:

Wing: Thank you for the shove me dear. I kinda needed it. Next chappy as promised. Now to write number 7. I'll try not to rewrite anything in the process! Lol.

Haldir's Heart and Soul: hey - Urban is da bomb and that's all we need to say! Heh heh. I need to get piccies of Urban, he's to hot, and his cupid was funny. He has a new film that came out on the second of December - it's the movie version of the game Doom! He plays a hot military guy! If you liked his look in Chronicles of Riddick then you will like his hair in this film. I'm hoping to go see it this week sometime.

Dearest shini i.e. Dawny: this is the definition of "fast update" for both of us.

Whatevergirl: yeah… I draw out the angst a lot. I'm kinda good a angst and bad at romance….

Empath89: too lazy to log in? hah hah. Updated for you!

Sexy-as-ron: angst - have to add it!

Islidwen: I'm trying to take this fic forward…. Not going overly fast though…. Heh heh

Neori-chan: Won't give any thing away! Hah hah! But it will have twists…. I hope.

alibi girl: Updated, and hopefully the next chapter won't take so long

Leigh the wonderlord: interesting sign on name….Action there will be…. Just not… porn.