No one had spoken for the rest of the night. The next morning,everyone was on edge. Aragorn knew that Haldir had been sent to bring Legolas home, and he also knew that Legolas wouldn't go back home.

Both were now arguing back and forth over the matter.
Both shouting at each other in elvish.

"What are they saying Aragorn?"
Gimli asked as he put out the fire.
Aragorn glanced over at the two elves.
"Nothing I want to repeat."

Amarth chuckled at Aragorn's comment.
Aragorn looked at him skeptically and Amarth shrugged.
"I would have said the same thing."

Aragorn exchanged a look with Gimli.
Last night, Amarth had been the reason that Legolas had lost control again. But he had also stopped the fight, and had prevented Aragorn from getting injured.

He had remained out of everyone's way since the incident. He didn't say or do anything. He just waited for them to be ready to go.

Aragorn turned his attention back over to Legolas and Haldir. Their argument wasn't going anywhere.

Haldir continued to insist that Legolas needed to go back with him, while Legolas made it clear to him that he would not go back.

Haldir threw his hands up in defeat and shouted, "Your father should have sent the entire army after you!"
He stormed away from Legolas. Still shouting.
"What did he expect you would do? Did he honestly think that you would come willingly? No! You are the most stubborn elf that I've ever met!"

Legolas watched him go off by himself. He looked like he could care less.

Aragorn sighed. So far this quest of their's was not going well.
"I don't want to rush you or anything, but we really need to get going."

Amarth said quietly with his hands clasped behind his back.
Aragorn sighed.
He walked over to where Haldir stood.

"Aragorn, please talk to Legolas!"
Haldir said as soon as Aragorn approached.
"What makes you think that he will listen to me?"
Aragorn asked.

"You are his friend Aragorn! He will listen to you."
Aragorn couldn't help it.
He laughed.
"Haldir, Legolas is more stubborn than a dwarf. Once he puts his mind to something nothing can shake him."

Haldir looked at him in disbelief.
"What am I supposed to do? Thranduil ordered me not to return unless I had him with
me."

"Then don't go back."
Aragorn said simply.
Haldir looked at him in confusion.
"Come with us. We could use your help."

"Aragorn, I have orders."
"Your orders are to bring Legolas back. But Thranduil never specified when you had to."
Aragorn pointed out.

"Think about it Haldir, help us defeat Alatar, and then you can return home with Legolas."
Haldir still looked uneasy.
"Besides, isn't your first job to protect him?"

Haldir closed his eyes and sighed.
"Alright. I will go."
He reopened his eyes and drilled Aragorn with a cold stare.
"But if his life becomes endangered in any way, I am bringing him back to his father."

()()()

"Well isn't this unheard of."
Gimli stated.
"Three elves, a man, and a dwarf, are traveling through unknown lands, to go and kill a being who has remained hidden for thousands of years, and can only be killed by stabbing him in the heart with a small dagger."

Turning to Aragron he said, "None of this makes sense."
Aragorn sighed.
"I thought that after Sauron was defeated all of our troubles would have been over."

"That's what they always think."
Amarth said from the front of the group.
But whether he was talking to them or himself was uncertain.

"They are all so focused on one evil, that they never notice all the others. The ones that go unnoticed. These are the things that hide in the darkness. That grow into something terrible, they never notice until it's too late."

He stopped and turned towards the others.
"If we were all more vigilant, things would be much different. We wouldn't have to suffer through pain, or lose the ones we love."

Amarth turned away and began walking again.
"We would not bare the scars that we do."

Aragorn glanced at Legolas.
The elf's face was a mess of emotions.
Haldir's however, was as hard as stone.

"I still don't know what to make of him."
Gimli shook his head.
"What side is he on?"

Aragorn studied the dark elf.
Is he a friend, or an enemy?
This thought remained with him for the rest of the day.

()()()

Legolas walked uncomfortably at the back of the group. He didn't want to talk to anyone.

He still felt awful about what had happned two nights ago.
Aragorn hadn't mentioned anything since then, but he hadn't exactly been very trusting.

For one thing he kept Legolas' sword and knives with him.
He allowed him to have his bow, just in case he would need it.

Legolas hadn't wanted Haldir to come with them, but it was either that or him being forced to go back to Mirkwood.

He would not return to that place until Alatar was dead.
This wasn't the first time he had run away from home....

Legolas shook the memory away. Now was not the tine for him to get lost in thought.

Aragorn and Gimli were talking quietly, Legolas felt a pang of lonliness.

He had missed out on so much during his captivity in Mordor. During that time, the rest of the Fellowship had become closer in friendship than ever before.

Legolas still felt like an outsider at times.
He knew that his people feared him, he always caught the wary glances they gave him, and he heard what they whispered about him when they thought that they were alone.

Will I ever belong anywhere?

His friends couldn't trust him, his people couldn't, he didn't trust himself.

He had tried so hard to fight and defend everything that was good in the world from evil, but instead of being free from the shadow, it continued to consume him.

How different would things have been if he hadn't been taken by Sauron in Minas Tirith?
If he hadn't joined the Fellowship? Or met Aragorn?

What if he had never been captured by Sauron in the first place?

Gandalf had told him once that everything happened for a reason, nothing was an accident.

What reason could there possibly be for him being taken from his family? What purpose would his being tortured and broken serve?

So far all he had managed to accomplish was getting the people closest to him hurt, or killed.

Anyone who comes near me gets hurt.

He looked up at his friends.
Would they be safer if he wasn't around?

He remembered his father's words...

They are mortal Legolas. They will die.

Perhaps it would be better if he began to distance himself from his friends.
Then it wouldn't hurt as much when they left.

Legolas shook the thought away.
That was exactly what his father had done with him.
It hadn't worked out at all.

Legolas decided that he didn't care what his father thought.
He would make his own choices from now on.

Amarth suddenly froze.
He turned to Legolas and motioned for him to come forward.

Legolas walked over to him, not really knowing why.
"What do you want?"
He asked.
"Easterlings."
Amarth replied.

Legolas' eyes widened.
"Where? How many?"
Amarth shook his head.
"Too close, and too many."

Legolas looked out in the distance, he could see a small camp, probably five miles or so from where they were, crawling with Easterlings.

"What would they be doing this far east?"
He asked Amarth.
He then realized that he was talking to him like he was a trusted friend.

"They are probably outlaws. Banished from their home."
Amarth adressed the others.
"Easterlings."
He announced.

"Where?"
Aragorn asked.
"Can we avoid them?"
Haldir asked.

An arrow suddenly flew towards them, it landed in the middle of where they were standing.

Angry shouts from men came towards them.

Amarth drew his two swords and looked over at Haldir.
"No. No we cannot."

()()()

A/N

Hey guys! So I just want to say real quick, thank you all for reading my stories! It means so much to me and hearing your guys' feedback is very encouraging!

I want to give a shoutout to Avengers14
She hasn't made it to this story yet, but she's the one that got me started on this and encouraged me to keep writing!
She is super awesome, has a great sense of humor, and is an awesome friend!