Author's Notes: I've well and truly caught the Lord of the Rings bug, and after doing a little humour piece, I've decided to try out the real thing. That's a piece of serious fiction, if you were wondering.

It's slash, like most of my stories. Don't like that kind of thing? Don't read on. Simple. I've noticed a lot of Aragorn/Legolas fics (which I love), and a few Aragorn/Boromir fics on ff.net, but so far I haven't seen any Boromir/Legolas, whom I think would make an incredibly sexy couple, on account of them being total opposites to each other. So this is just my little indulgence into that. I'll probably throw in a little Aragorn/Legolas towards the end, but only cos I'm a sucker for those two as well.

I'm going to be straight up now; I haven't read any of the books. This is based purely on the movie, and therefore, if I don't get facts straight, I'd like to apologise in advance right now. That said, I hope you all like it, whether you've read the books or not!

Oh, one more thing. Two forward slashes like this // in front of a sentence mean that a flashback is beginning. Two more at the end of a paragraph means a flashback is ending. Hope that's clear!

Disclaimer: The words are mine but the characters are all Tolkein's, whom I'll always be grateful to. Well, him and Peter Jackson, who ensured I didn't have to read the book! Aw, I'm so lazy...

Shadows

Chapter One

By torturedwriter

       

Boromir was dead. It was the only thing Legolas was aware of in that instance; it was the only thing that mattered. He knew before he saw Aragorn cradling the lifeless body, he knew even before he heard the tortured crying. He wished he could cry too, wished more than he had ever done so in his life. But the only thing that came out was a choked, strangled sob, and misty eyes. He felt a rough hand on his shoulder, and knew that it was Gimli. But no touch or display of compassion could comfort him now. Boromir was dead. And with him he had taken the heart of an elf.

Aragon rose, his face stained with muddy tears. He looked just as Legolas felt; betrayed, vengeful, but above all, sorrowful. "He is dead." He told them simply, unnecessarily. Beside him, Gimli nodded. Legolas only stared. "It was a hero's death, Legolas. He died well."

Did anybody die well? Who decided what was a good or bad death? When a human still had life ahead of him, how could it be classed as good? Legolas shivered suddenly, his deep eyes still staring vacantly. 'He died well...' How could that be? Boromir should have been here with them. Aragorn should have been saying many years from now 'He lived well'. No mention of death. Not here. Not like this...

"What of the others?" Gimli asked. Aragon sighed wearily.

"The orcs have taken Merry and Pippin."

"And Frodo and Sam?"

"They have gone. Fled"

"He tried to take it, didn't he?" Legolas looked at Boromir. "The ring."

"Yes." Aragorn nodded. If he was surprised that Legolas knew, he didn't show it. But of course Legolas knew. He had known for a long time that Boromir would try to take it. He had loved him still, despite that. Did that make him evil? Or did it simply mean he had been loyal to the human he loved? The human who was now dead?

"Come then." Legolas finally looked up at Aragorn. "We must find Frodo and Sam." He already knew how Aragorn was going to reply to this, but his need to concentrate on something, anything else was overpowering.

"We cannot. Frodo must do this on his own."

"Then the Fellowship failed?" Gimli asked, his face bitter.

"As long as we stay strong, the Fellowship will not fail. We cannot leave Merry and Pippin to suffer at the hands of the orcs. They will not last long under their capture." Aragorn replied.

"Then we must leave immediately." Gimli said decisively. He looked to Aragorn and then to Legolas. "What are we waiting for?"

"We cannot leave Boromir here like this." Legolas stared at the dwarf, horrified that he'd suggest such a thing.

"Don't see why not." Gimli shrugged. "He was a traitor. He alone was responsible for the breaking of the Fellowship."

Legolas was ready to attack. How dare this dwarf, of all things, speak about Boromir like this? Not even deem him worthy of a proper burial. Aragorn recognised the wild look in the elf's eyes and placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"If it had not been Boromir, it would have been one of the other members of the Fellowship. Do not blame him, Gimli. Were you rather it were you lying dead here?"

This silenced the dwarf. His mouth set in a determined line behind his beard, and he offered only a grunt in reply.

"We will send Boromir back to the water." Aragorn told them. Legolas nodded, pacified. It was the correct way to send him. Boromir would have approved.

       

That night they set up camp, and took it in turns to keep watch. Legolas was second, after Aragorn, but sleep was not forthcoming. He stirred restlessly in the shadows, his eyes open and alert. He knew what sleep would bring him and, for the time being, it was something he was not willing to face. Not yet, at the very least.

But even awake, he could not block out the memories of the past weeks; the stolen kisses, the whispers in the dark, the rough hands passing down his smooth skin. This time yesterday, Boromir had held him in his arms, and stoked his long hair until he had fallen asleep. Tonight, no arms clung to him; no kisses were placed on his lips.

"I know you hurt." A voice whispered softly in the darkness. Legolas stayed still, hoping that Aragorn would believe him asleep. "I can see it in your eyes. But you're not alone, Legolas. I hurt too."

'Not in the same way', Legolas wanted to say. 'How can it be in the same way?' But he couldn't speak. His words caught in his throat. He didn't want Aragorn's pity. He was an elf, and elves didn't accept pity easily.

"I know you can hear me, Legolas. I can sense your unrest deeper than you realise. We are connected, you and I." Aragorn whispered. "Connected by love."

Legolas felt Aragorn's presence near to him, and he finally turned round to see Aragorn knelt down beside him, his dark eyes full of visible sorrow, even by the dim light of the moon.

"Love?"

"For Boromir." Aragorn sighed. He looked as though he would continue, but reconsidered.

"I was always told to never fall in love with a human." Legolas said. "Why did I choose to ignore that? What made me think that Boromir would make me happy?"

"Didn't he?"

"Well, when he was alive he sometimes did." Legolas exclaimed. "But what use is that? I have an eternity ahead of me without him. The memories only make me more bitter."

"I have no doubt that they are extremely painful to think about at this point in time." Aragorn said. "But surely you will not always be this way? If you are, maybe your relationship with Boromir was not an entirely happy one."

He had touched on a subject too painful to talk about. No, his relationship with Boromir had not been entirely happy. But he couldn't talk about that with anyone. Especially not with Aragorn, whose dark eyes seemed to penetrate Legolas' very soul.

"My relationship with Boromir is not your concern." Legolas replied stiffly. Aragorn sighed regretfully.

"Maybe not. But you are, Legolas. You are a deep concern of mine."

"I don't need your concern, Aragorn. I may look youthful and innocent, but I am older than you can imagine. I have been through suffering and pain before, and I have no doubt that I will go through it again. So spare me your sorrow. I have no use for it."

"Just because you are old, it doesn't make you any less innocent." Aragorn whispered sorrowfully. He rose slowly, as if a great weight had been placed on his shoulders. "Your eyes still shine with it, Legolas. More so than mine have ever done."

He walked away from the camp, until gradually Legolas lost all sight of him, and he was consumed by the shadows. Legolas stared into the darkness for a long time, wishing he could take back his harsh words. Aragorn had only ever been kind to him. Nobody else had been true of that. Not even Boromir...

       

//Legolas heard the sound of footsteps some distance away, but they were ever gaining on him. A great sense of evil shot through his mind, scenes of death played themselves out horrifically. He knew it was orcs, although what they were doing in these parts mystified him. There had been a great unrest for several months now, but rather foolishly he hadn't imagined himself to be one affected by it. How wrong he had been...

The footsteps pounded closer, and Legolas started to run. He had no chance of fighting so many and winning. Every instinct told him to flee, and he listened to them.

Behind him he heard the squeals of the foul beasts as they spotted the elf. A fine prize, he would be, if they caught him. He was faster than them, and more agile. Plus, he had a decent headstart. He simply hoped he could keep his strength up.

The screams got louder; and they sounded much closer than they should have been. How could they possibly have covered that much ground so quickly? He had outrun orcs before, and they had never presented the slightest threat. But all too quickly, he realised where the screams were coming from. Not just behind. In front as well.

It took every inch of will power he had not to run straight into the embrace of the orcs in front of him. Slowing down, he looked behind. He was surrounded. The orcs approached him, their excited squeals telling him everything he needed to know. He was caught. The only way out was to fight. With lightening quick reflexes, he pulled his bow and arrow from his back. Of course, it was extremely ineffective for close combat. But it was all he had.

The first arrow hit one of the larger orcs right between the eyes. In the confusion that followed, he had time to notice how many surrounded him. It was in excess of fifty. The figure did little to comfort him.

He was grabbed from behind and held tightly by an orc, who proceeded to scream in his ear. It was a war cry, and a chilling invitation to the other orcs to make good use of the elf. Legolas twisted and turned in the grip, and finally managed to kick the orc hard in the leg. The orc let out a squeal and let go. Legolas wasted no time in attacking another orc with a well-aimed arrow, but as soon as it was hit, he was surrounded again. Fists flew at him from every angle, claws ripping into his clothes and skin. He fought as best as he could, but there were too many, and they were thirsty for blood. Any kind of blood would have satisfied them, but the fact that they had found a pretty elf made it all the more appealing.

After several minutes of the brutal beatings, Legolas fell. Throughout, he had resisted the urge to call out, to give them that satisfaction, but now he no longer cared. His clear, high voice rang out through the forest, and the orcs screamed back, wild with ecstasy. Their deformed faces twisted into grins, and when Legolas looked up at them, that was all he could see.

They kicked him ruthlessly for a time, and gradually they began to grow tired of this. Legolas knew what would come next, and he was right. Staring up, he saw the silver blade of a knife flash in the sunlight. He squeezed his eyes shut, wishing the nightmare to be over with all his might.

And suddenly, it was.

Another cry rang out through the forest, and it was neither orc nor elf. It was unmistakably human. The orcs scattered above Legolas as the metallic hiss of a sword cut through them. Mass panic spread throughout; and the orcs started to retreat. As the space above him cleared, Legolas saw a single human fighting his way over to the fallen elf.

"Can you walk?" The human called to him. Legolas nodded, and stood up swiftly. The orcs were starting to surround again, their initial shock of being attacked quickly diminishing. "We must flee." The human shouted. The two started to run, the sounds of the orcs screams echoing behind them. Legolas felt pain rip through his body as he forced his bruised limbs to take him ever faster. At last, the sounds of the orcs indignant screams started to fade, until they were barely audible. The human grabbed Legolas' arm, and pulled him into the entrance of a cave. He motioned for Legolas to stay silent, and presently, a few of the larger orcs ran past the entrance, not even thinking to look inside.

"Stupid creatures." The human stared after them, disgusted. "I wish I had the chance to kill more." He looked across at Legolas and smiled suddenly, his weathered face lifting slightly. "My name is Boromir, if you were wondering."

"Legolas." The elf looked down, ashamed. A human had saved him. It was almost unheard of.

"Oh, don't worry." Boromir's smiled widened, as he realised what Legolas was thinking. "This will be our secret, I promise."

"I do not wish to hide my gratitude." Legolas told him indignantly. "I will make sure you are rewarded for your brave deed."

"What use have I for a reward?" Boromir asked. "I am a traveller, elf. I do not live like elves." He chuckled wryly. "I would not want to."

"And what is so wrong with the way we live?"

"Nothing, I'm sure. Not for you, at any rate. If a human was to intrude, that might be another story."

"We welcome any race."

"Only so you can look down on them." Boromir exclaimed. Legolas felt the anger rise inside him of at the human's disrespect.

"Why, how dare you...?" Legolas fumed. He started to leave the cave, but Boromir grabbed his arm.

"The danger has not yet passed, elf. I will not rescue you again if you choose to walk straight back into the orc's trap."

"Well I cannot spend another minute here with you." Legolas informed him simply. He tried to pull his arm away, but the grip of the human was surprisingly resilient.

"You will." Boromir exclaimed. He was still smiling, as if he found the matter highly amusing. "Besides, you are in my debt, elf. You must do as I say."

"I will not." Legolas hissed at him. "And you may call me by my proper name. How dare you address me as if I am lower than you?"

"I saved you, didn't I?"

"Release me this instant." Legolas shouted at him. "I am a prince. You have no right to treat me like this."

"You said I'd be rewarded, didn't you?" Boromir asked. "I have already chosen it. I wish for you to stay here with me tonight." He let go of Legolas' arm. "I will not accept any other reward. If you don't want to thank me for my bravery, you are free to go."

"You..." Legolas stared hatefully at him. The human had saved him; he couldn't deny that. Finally, he sat down forcefully on the cold floor of the cave. Boromir sat down next to him, the infuriating smile now even wider.

"That's what I love about elves." He said. "They always keep their word."//

***

Author's Notes: Well, did ya like it? Please, please, please write a little review so I know I'm writing for someone. Pretty please? With sugar on top? Aw, go on. You know you want to.

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