My Little Greenleaf ~ Little Legolas - Chapter 4: Chapter 4

After Legolas' birthday, Thranduil brought him hunting often. Legolas quickly mastered his small bow, and soon, received a larger, stronger one to hunt with. Thranduil could easily see that Legolas had natural talent with a bow and he could foresee that becoming Legolas' typical weapon of choice.
One beautiful spring morning, Thranduil woke up to the sound of birds chirping. The sun streamed in through the partly veiled windows, creating strange shadows on the floor. The air was fresh and smelled of the forest. He inhaled deeply and climbed out of bed. The bright morning air filled his lungs as he smiled lightly, feeling completely refreshed.
Today, Thranduil had planned a special picnic for him and Legolas. He knew of a very special spot to take his son and couldn't wait to break the news to his elfling. Just thinking about Legolas' possible reaction brought a small chuckle to his lips.
Abruptly, the doors to Thranduil's chambers opened, and a blur of blond hair and a forest green tunic rushed in. Bolting straight into his father, Legolas squealed in delight.
Picking the little prince up, Thranduil spun him around and around. The jubilant elfling giggled and screamed as he flew through the air, spreading his arms out and waving them up and down like a bird.
Finally, the king set his son down and panted. "Phew... Legolas, you are getting too heavy for me to do that anymore," he joked. Legolas knew he was just playing around due to the fact that elves didn't tend to ever weigh much, and he was still very young.
Legolas laughed, "I'm so excited, Ada! I just can't wait to go with you. The picnic is gonna be super awesome!"
"Yes, it will be, my son. It will." Smiling once at Legolas, Thranduil started walking out the door and into the hall.
Scampering to catch up with his Ada, Legolas spoke, "When are we going Ada? Can we go now?" He begged, "Please?"
"Legolas, patience. We will leave as soon as I make sure everything is prepared."
"Yes, Adar. But please, hurry!" And with that, Legolas skipped in the opposite direction to prepare for the journey himself. But when he reached his destination, he was far too excited to get much done at all.
Later, after all the preparations had been made, Legolas and Thranduil set off on their little adventure. It was a short ride to the special spot and when they arrived, Leggy looked around to see a beautiful sight. It was a clear opening in the midst of the forest, with a serene river flowing through it. The thick and twisted trees that filled the Greenwood, or Mirkwood, stopped at the edge of the meadow, allowing the bright sunlight to spill through and light up the area.
After admiring the scenic sight, Father and son unpacked the food and a small blanket to sit on. Then, Legolas scurried off to play in the river. Thranduil watched peacefully as he rested on the blanket. Everything was perfect. The air was warm, the grass was green, and the flowers were bright. Yet, Thranduil still seemed uneasy. Something was wrong. He could feel it. A stir in the air, or perhaps a smell. He couldn't be sure. Maybe he was just too tense. Relax. He told himself. It is time to enjoy yourself. Just have fun.
After they had eaten, and Legolas had gotten tired of splashing around in the water, Thranduil began to pick up the rest of the food.
But not a minute later, his task was interrupted by three orcs as they burst out of the trees and approached the two elves. Thranduil swiftly pulled out his bow from behind his back, laced an arrow upon it, and let it fly. The arrow found it's mark in the closest orc's head.
Thranduil quickly reached for another arrow only to discover that there were no more! He craned his neck only to confirm that his quiver was indeed empty.
"Legolas! Where are my arrows?" he shouted.
"I...I... may have accidentally used them for target practice back home. Sorry, Ada!" Legolas said while staring at the incoming orcs. He was frozen in his spot.
Thranduil huffed in frustration and pulled out his blade. "Legolas! Go over to that tree and climb up it. Stay there until I come get you! Do you understand?"
"Yes, Ada," Legolas answered. And having broken out of his stupor, he quickly obeyed his father.
The king began charging the orcs and fighting them. He managed to swipe his blade down one orc's arm and thinking that it would bleed out, he focused his attention to the other Orc.
This foul creature is much stronger than his other comrades and would be much harder to defeat. Thranduil thought.
At last, he managed to get a heavy swing in and sliced the orc's arm off, before following it by cutting off its head also. The Orc was dead.
Thranduil turned around to go get Legolas, but as he turned around, what stared him in the face made him want to scream. It was the the second orc who had received a blow to his arm from Thranduil, but he had not died!
While Thranduil had been busy fighting the strongest of the orcs, he had snuck up to the tree Legolas was hiding in and had grabbed him. There, holding a scared elfling by the throat with a knife, was Thranduil's biggest mistake.
"Put the blade down," the orc grinned, revealing a mouth full of rancid teeth. Thranduil dropped his sword as he fumed inside. How could he have made such a sloppy mistake? He thought to himself angrily.
"What do you want?" the furious king asked.
"I want to see you suffer," the orc mocked, "You have killed many of my kind, and now I shall kill what is most precious to you, elf scum!"
Thranduil, normally very brave and bold, was brought low at this sentence, "Please...I...I...I'll do anything. Please... I beg of you. Kill me instead. My son does not deserve to die," he whimpered.
The orc grinned, "No... I think I would rather see you suffer. But don't worry, you'll die next." His putrid teeth barred in a wicked smile. He pulled the knife tighter against Legolas' neck. Legolas whimpered as a small trail of blood slowly started seeping down his neck. "Say goodbye to your son, elf."
Just as the orc started to slice the blade across the prince's neck, an arrow suddenly sprouted from his forehead. Toppling over, the blade fell from the dead orc's hands and into the grass.
Swiftly, a dozen elves burst from the tree line and entered the clearing. Thranduil rushed over to his son who had also fallen to the ground.
"Legolas! Are you all right? Please, ion nin, speak to me!" Thranduil begged.
Legolas groaned and slowly opened his eyes, "Ada?"
Thranduil sighed with relief. He gently picked up his son and kissed his small head. The elves surrounded their king and prince as they safely escorted them back to the palace.
Afterwards, Legolas recovered quickly, and soon he was back to normal. Although, he never forgot what the orc had said to his father in that clearing. And because of that, he grew to have a deadly, but guarded anger against all orcs.