Disclaimer: All Tolkien's , not mine, except for my OCs. Pity, but I can't change it ;) I'm just borrowing them without making profit of it, and I will return them unharmed. I hope. ; p

A/N: This is my first real fanfic ever, so please be patient with me ;) I have started it quite a while ago and am still working on it. I have noticed a few flaws already, but well… Constructive criticism and encouragement would be much appreciated. Hope you enjoy :)

And thanks a lot to my beta Celebwen! hugs You're helping me more than I can say, meldis nîn:)

In Darkness and Silence

Chapter 1: Captured

It was cold, terribly cold. That was the first thing he noticed when he woke up. Cold and silent. Unbearably so. Slowly the elf opened his eyes. It made no difference; everything was as dark as it had been before. He couldn't even see his own soft glow. He couldn't see anything. He was blind.

The elf breathed in sharply at the realization – and froze. He couldn't hear himself breathing. He licked his lips but tasted nothing. He breathed in deeply but caught no smell in the air. He could only feel. Feel the throbbing pain in his head, feel the cold stone floor he was lying on, feel the heavy chains around his hands and feet.

What had happened? How had he come here? For that matter, where was here?

He breathed deeply and tried to keep his composure. This couldn't be real…

But it was; his head reminded him painfully of that fact. He was nearly thankful for the pain; it kept him holding onto this world. With every sense an elf lost, he lost something that held him there. And he…

He bit his lip, forcing back the feelings of helplessness that threatened to overwhelm him. He hated those feelings. / I am Thranduil Oropherion, king of Mirkwood/ he told himself. / I will not give in that easily. /

He was trapped, trapped in a world of darkness and silence, yet he would not give in to anything that might come, nor would he let go of this world and turn to the halls of Mandos.

Whatever was imminent for him, he would fight.

Carefully he got to his feet. There he stood for a while, swaying, as he seemed to have gotten a nasty knock on the head. When he felt sure enough on his feet, he slowly stepped forward until his hands found stone in front of him. He walked along the wall, one hand always touching it.

The room he was in was small and completely made of stone. It reminded him a great deal of a dungeon. The heavy door he had soon found was locked. Considering the fact that he was in chains he wasn't really surprised about that.

He leaned against the wall, having difficulties keeping his balance. His head was now throbbing fiercely. He carefully touched its back with his hand and winced slightly at the unexpected wave of pain that caused. What he found there felt an awful lot like dry blood. The elf lord could only hope the wound wasn't that bad; he was pretty sure he wouldn't get much help from his captors.

His captors. He had no idea who they were, nor what they wanted. He didn't even know how they had managed to capture him.

He tried to remember. Memories returned only slowly, and with no small amount of pain for his already aching head.

They had been on their way to Rivendell when it had happened.

Flashback

The rising sun coloured the Misty Mountains in a bright red glow. The elves that had camped at their feet were now remounting their horses, continuing their journey.

'We will cross the mountains over the High Pass. If we maintain our pace we will reach Rivendell at nightfall,' Laeglin, one of the warriors accompanying King Thranduil, said.

The Elvenking nodded, smiling. The relationship between the Noldor elves of Rivendell and his people had bettered a lot in the last years, mostly due to the strange yet strong friendship between his son and Estel, the human that Lord Elrond counted as one of his own.

Thranduil chuckled slightly as he thought about the change that friendship had caused in his son. Legolas had barely left Mirkwood for the past two millennia, now he barely returned home. The king was going to see him in Rivendell and ask if he'd return home with him.

Suddenly Laeglin interrupted his thoughts. 'Do you feel that hîr nîn / my Lord ?' he asked, his voice barely audible. Thranduil tensed, concentrating on his surroundings. Laeglin was right. Something was amiss.

'We're being watched,' one of the younger elves stated quietly. The king half-turned and looked at the five warriors behind him. They were tense and ready to fight, though a little fear stood in the eyes of the two youngest, fear they unsuccessfully tried to hide.

'Keep your weapons ready,' Thranduil ordered in a low voice. 'Try to find out where they are and who they are. And be on your guard.' Warily the elves looked around in the trees.

Suddenly Gaerfin, the youngest, spotted a silver twinkle in a tree. Someone was sitting there. And that someone was aiming an arrow at Laeglin.

'Laeglin! Down!' he cried, but it was too late. The elf fell from his mount, an arrow protruding from his chest. 'Laeglin!' Shock mirrored in the eyes of the elves.

But it didn't hold them for long. The next one that fell was the archer in the tree. He dropped limply to the ground, pierced by two elven arrows.

The elves jumped off their horses and told them to run; they were of no use here, and they didn't want to drag their faithful friends into that fight. The animals accepted, though only reluctantly, and fled.

Now a real rain of arrows came down on the small group of elves, followed by many hooded figures that jumped out of the trees.

Someone screamed in pain. Thranduil had no way to figure out who it was. He only knew that the attackers were too many, far too many for them.

/ But why haven't we noticed them earlier/ he thought when suddenly something smashed forcefully down on his head. With nearly ironic clarity his eyes took in the last thing he saw:

Red and green, blood on leaves and grass. Two elves and several of there enemies were lying on the ground; the others were still fighting. Blood covered all of them.

He turned to see one of the hooded figures standing behind him, his cudgel stained with blood. Then darkness claimed him, and he fell.

End of Flashback

TBC...

Please let me know what you think :)