Title: An Enchanted Adventure

Author: White Wolf

Gentre: Fantasy

Disclaimer: Two words: Not mine.

A/N: This story was written for the Mellon Chronicles Teitho Contest - Fairy Tale: Middle-earth Style.

*~*~*~*

The two elves crouched behind a cluster of underbrush and stared out toward the clearing and the small stream, as it made its way between the forest’s ancient trees. Both were young, even by elven standards, being around the age of fifteen the way humans would reckon it. One had light golden hair and the other was a more honey-colored blond.

Legolas, the slightly younger of the two, said, "The unicorn will come to drink just before the sun lifts above the horizon." Surrounded by forest as they were, the sunrise itself would not be seen, but being elves, they knew the exact moment the event would occur.

With obvious doubt, Kirdil, the darker-haired youth, asked, "And you know this how, because my Ada says they do not even exist?"

"My Ada says the same thing, but I know that they do exist," Legolas insisted stubbornly. He did not dwell on the fact that his thoughts on the matter went contrary not only to his father, the king, but to everyone else he had heard tell of. No adults, it seemed, believed in unicorns.

"But you have never seen a unicorn," Kirdil stated, making a further argument for his point of view. learned from those same doubting adults.

"No," Legolas had to admit. "But that does not mean they do not exist. I have never seen Valinor, either, but I know that it is there. I just know there are unicorns, too."

"Others have seen Valinor, Legolas" Kirdil pointed out, affectively nullifying one of Legolas’s arguments. "Besides, if they were real, someone would have seen one long before now." Kirdil looked at Legolas with an expression that dared him to offer concrete evidence to the contrary.

Legolas tightened his mouth into a grim line. He took a deep breath. ‘Please, Valar, send a unicorn to the stream now, so my friend will believe me,’ he pleaded silently.

Neither elf spoke as the day began to grow lighter. No matter his doubt, Kirdil stared as hard at the clearing as Legolas was currently doing. If somehow a unicorn did show up, he was determined not to miss it.

But no unicorn showed up. Once the two young elves heard the whisper of an approaching animal, and both held their breaths. The form of a brown buck came into their line of sight. The sighs that were released by the two youths was pure disappointment.

They waited patiently as the deer drank his fill and left. Next a family of foxes arrived, also drinking all they wanted, and then they, too, left. Within the next ten minutes, half a dozen other animals came to the stream to slake their thirst. Sadly, none of them was a unicorn.

"This was a waste of time," Kirdil finally stated, unable to hide his exasperation. "We could have slept an extra couple of hours." He looked at Legolas. "I’m going home. Are you coming?"

Legolas was too disappointed to face the trek back to the palace right then. "No. I will be along later."

"Suit yourself."

Legolas never would have trusted what he considered a secret had Kridil not been his best friend. Nonetheless the prince wished he had not told the other elf this idea he had about the existence of unicorns in general and the one from his dreams in particular.

Kirdil saw his friend’s face, and his attitude softened. He put his hand on Legolas‘s shoulder. In a voice full of sympathy, he said, "Do not worry, Legolas. I will not tell anyone about this. I am sorry your unicorn did not show up." He then rose and headed down the path that would lead toward the realm’s palace and the elven settlements around it where Kirdil lived.

Legolas continued to stare forlornly at the clearing. "Why did the unicorn not show up?" the elf asked, not realizing he had spoken out loud until he heard the sound of his own voice.

Legolas looked down the path Kridil had just taken, though the other elf had long disappeared from view. The prince was not worried about Kirdil changing his mind and telling anyone else about what Legolas believed. He wasn’t even embarrassed that his friend probably thought he was slightly crazy. He just plain wanted to see a unicorn.

The sun had risen high enough to filter down through the branches of the trees and create dappled patterns on the ground below. Frequently, the rays would hit the clear water of the bubbling stream, sending out flashes of brilliance that danced over the stream’s surface and mesmerized Legolas on most occasions. His disappointment was so keen, he barely noticed them now.

Sure that the unicorn would not make an appearance now that the full light of day had arrived, the young prince reluctantly got to his feet and headed home.

*~*~*~*

Not wanting to face disappointment again, Legolas tried to push all thought of unicorns out of his mind, instead spending his time studying his lessons with his tutors, engaging in warrior training, which he had long ago found an affinity for, and interacting with his family and friends.

Kirdil had only asked once if the unicorn had ever shown up. When Legolas shook his head, the older elf frowned with regret. He felt bad for Legolas and, he had to admit, for himself, as well. He would have loved to have seen a unicorn. But Kirdil was convinced that Legolas was mistaken. Not wanting to be the cause of any more sadness for his friend, Kirdil dropped the subject completely.

Yet despite his best efforts, Legolas could not ignore the beautiful snow-white unicorn that continued to come to him in his dreams. He always got the feeling that the animal was trying to tell him something. That was one of the reasons he wanted so much to see the creature in person.

The dreams were how he had first become convinced that unicorns did indeed exist. He couldn’t explain the logic of why no one had ever seen them. Warriors patrolled Mirkwood constantly. If a unicorn lived in the great forest, surely there would have been a sighting or at the very least some kind of evidence of their presence.

Why were his dreams so insistent, if the mythical creature was just that---a myth? A Fairy Tale told to delight young children? He didn’t want to believe that his mind had latched onto the wondrous beast simply because he wished so much to believe he could actually find one. He was not yet an adult, but he was no longer a child, either. So why the dreams?

*~*~*~*

Three weeks after he had taken Kirdil to the clearing in the forest, Legolas told his father he wanted to sleep in the forest for a night. Normally, Thranduil did not let his son go out by himself overnight, but Legolas insisted that if he was ever to be considered a responsible future warrior, he needed to prove himself trustworthy to do this and keep himself safe.

After thinking it over, Thranduil agreed, making it clear that there would be warriors nearby but not so close that they would infringe upon Legolas’s sense of freedom. Knowing that was the best deal he was going to get, Legolas nodded.

Though curious, Thranduil did not question his son about what he planned to do with his time.

That afternoon Legolas put a few things in a small pack and left the palace, telling his father that he would be well and not to worry. He might as well have told the Forest River to reverse course.

Hard as it was, Thranduil was determined to abide by his own ‘rules‘. He had already told the warriors that would be responsible for his son’s safety to stay within range of any call for help Legolas might make. He had also received a promise from Legolas to make that call, if there was any threat to him, even if he thought he could handle it on his own.

Thranduil kissed his son’s forehead and wished him well. He sighed, as he watched Legolas cross the bridge over the Forest River and head toward the forest. Legolas was growing up, and the king was suddenly aware how hard it was becoming to accept that fact. The king turned and went to his office to finish the new stack of documents that awaited him.

*~*~*~*

Legolas enjoyed the walk in the forest on his way to the clearing. He had made that same trek many times in the company of others, most recently with Kirdil. But never had he done so alone. He found the walk refreshing and fraught with anticipation. Sleeping alone in the forest for the first time and hopefully seeing the unicorn the next morning was almost too much excitement to contain.

Legolas reached the clearing an hour before sunset and decided to lay his blanket behind the underbrush that had been his and Kirdil’s hiding place three weeks before.

Dropping his pack, the young elf began to prepare everything he would need to pass the night comfortably. He had decided on the way here not to build a fire.

No one but the Valar knew the real reason Legolas wanted to spend the night here in the forest. He had made up his mind that he was going to give the unicorn he still believed in one more chance to make itself known. If it didn’t, Legolas would know he was simply not meant to see a unicorn, and the creature would be forever consigned to remain in the realm of his dreams.

The elf slept little. For once the stars did not soothe him the way they usually did. His anticipation was too strong to do more than deepen his anxiety and keep it at a heightened level.

When he finally did manage to drift off shortly after midnight, the unicorn came to him again just as it always did. Since they started, the dreams had varied only slightly from one another, but the central theme was always the same: the unicorn appeared to him beside the stream that ran through the clearing.

The blond-haired elf awoke with a start, not sure for a moment where he was. Then he remembered. Legolas turned over on his side and this time closed his eyes, hoping to shut out everything from his mind that his vision might generate.

Finally, after more vain attempts to go back to sleep, Legolas sat up. He looked at the sky and judged the time to be about two hours before dawn. That was close enough, he thought, so he sat up, grabbed a piece of the lembas he had brought with him and began munching on it.

Once he had finished eating, he sat very still and trained every bit of his hearing on the night sounds of the forest. It was peaceful here, but it was not peace that he was seeking.

Just as the sky began to turn from black to a deep blue, he heard the first animal approach the stream. Somehow knowing it was not going to be what he was hoping for, the elf prince nonetheless raised up and stared toward the clearing. He was right. The animals that neared the water were a doe and her fawn. Though disappointed yet again, Legolas couldn’t hold back a smile. There was always something special about a baby animal that Legolas couldn‘t resist. If it weren’t for the hoped for unicorn, he would have gone over and made friends with the tiny deer and its mother.

Legolas watched the lightening sky with dismay. Was this to be another fruitless vigil? Was he to be denied yet again seeing the vision he yearned for?

Suddenly, without warning, Legolas detected something different. It was as if the air itself was vibrating and causing his skin to tingle. With his heart in this throat, he rose up on his knees to look once more through the small break in the underbrush.

What he beheld almost stopped his heart from beating and then caused it to race wildly. Coming through the tees and moving toward the stream was the most beautiful creature Legolas had ever laid his eyes on.

The animal’s coat glistened whiter than the whitest snow and seemed to absorb every speck of light that entered the clearing and then reflect it outward with a glow Legolas couldn‘t explain. The mane, which fell on the side nearest Legolas, flowed in waves over the gracefully arched neck. The long thick tail almost reached the ground. Big dark blue eyes looked around with a keen and intelligent gaze.

From where he crouched, Legolas could not detect a single flaw anywhere on the creature’s perfectly formed body.

Once the overall beauty before him allowed Legolas to breathe again, his attention was drawn to the single dark gray colored horn that extended from the creature’s forehead to a point some twelve inches above its base.

"A unicorn," Legolas whispered. His eyes were wide in awe, as his whole being was concentrated on the unicorn that had now lowered its head to drink from the stream at a spot only a few yards away.

When it was finished drinking, the unicorn raised its head and stared in the direction of the elf. All the creature saw were two blue-gray eyes amid the greenery of the bushes, but it knew an elf was hiding there. Both stared unblinkingly at the other.

Without thought for what he was doing, Legolas raised up and stepped through the brush until he was in full view of the impossibly white creature. When the unicorn did not move away, Legolas walked slowly forward with his right hand extended in front of him.

"Are you real?" he asked. "Or am I dreaming again?" The two questions were uttered as barely more than a breath.

The unicorn continued to gaze at the young elf, whose appearance in the clearing and soft-spoken elvish words did not seem to frighten it.

Legolas stopped when he reached a spot five feet from the unicorn. "Do not fear. I am a friend," the elf said, still speaking softly. "I will not harm you." He waited with his hand still outstretched. He was surprised the pounding of his heart hadn’t sent the unicorn fleeing.

The gaze of the creature’s big blue eyes moved from the fair face of the young elf to his hand, held out in a gesture of friendship. With an uncanny ability to know its enemies, the unicorn sized up the elf.

It had made its decision and began to move forward until its nose toughed the elf’s hand.

A thrill went through Legolas that was like nothing else he had ever experienced. He let out a long-held breath of relief, as he gently turned his hand so that he could rub the velvety muzzle. He then put his left hand on the unicorn’s nose, as his right hand moved to the arched neck. "You are so beautiful," Legolas remarked ‘and so soft‘, he added to himself. He felt that he could stand like this stroking this incredible creature for hours.

"I do not know your name, so I will call you Beautiful One, for that is what you truly are."

After a few moments, Legolas became overcome with curiosity abut the horn only a few inches from his own head. He reached toward the horn and then stopped, suspending his hand in mid air. All the stories of unicorns he had read and heard told had been very adamant that it was strictly forbidden to touch a unicorn’s horn.

The stories had been deemed mythical, so he knew these tales had been written by those who had never seen one. Myths were made up, weren’t they? So who could know the truth? Then again, it might really be forbidden to touch their horns.

Feeling uncertain, Legolas stood with his head bowed slightly and his eyes closed, waiting for a sign about what he should do. So it was not a surprise when he suddenly felt a soft nose touch his right cheek. His eyes were shining with joy when he opened them and saw the unicorn’s staring at him.

The creature’s head was also bowed, so that the horn was pointing straight at Legolas, as if it was about to charge him. The elf might have been alarmed had it not been for the look in the unicorn’s eyes. It was plain the animal meant no ill toward Legolas. In fact, it now seemed to be inviting the elf to touch its horn.

Confused, Legolas didn’t move at first. He thought that if he was wrong and touched the horn, the unicorn would be angry and would turn and run from this place, never to return. Legolas didn’t think he could stand that.

The two again looked at each other intently. The white creature took a half step forward, keeping the horn pointed at the elf. A low snuffle told Legolas that the animal was inviting him again to touch its horn.

It was with only a small feeling of trepidation that Legolas reached up and put his right forefinger near the tip of the horn.

The tingle that went through Legolas made him shiver. His vision blurred and his head swam, causing him to sway slightly. He closed his eyes while his body tried to rebalance itself. When he felt steady again, he opened his eyes. His shock was total. He was not where he had been. At least, where he had been had taken on a wondrously different appearance.

The air was crystal clear, almost vibrating in its clarity. Every color that he saw was more intense than he would have ever believed possible. And everywhere the sun shone, the beams sparkled.

The stream was there and the trees were in their proper place, yet everything shimmered and sparkled. To top it all off, the elf’s keen ears picked up the faint sound of tinkling bells.

Legolas looked at the unicorn and found that the white creature, too, was shimmering. Its horn sparkled as if it was encrusted with tiny diamonds.

"Where are we?" the elf couldn’t help but ask. He knew he wouldn’t receive a verbal answer, though if he had, he wouldn‘t have been the least bit surprised. Then it dawned on Legolas. "We are in your world now." It was not meant to be a question.

The unicorn neighed and seemed to be laughing in delight at the elf‘s sense of wonder. It turned sideways and swung its head around, pointing its nose at its own back. Once more looking at Legolas, the animal repeated the gesture.

The prince could not believe the thought that came into his mind. "You want me to climb up and ride you?" The unicorn stories had also said no one could ride one of the magical creatures.

To Legolas’s great surprise, the unicorn nodded its head and pawed the ground beneath its front hooves. The unicorn then stood quietly, seeming to understand the reason for the elf’s hesitation.

The young prince was exhilarated at what he was about to do. ‘All it can do is throw me off,’ Legolas said to himself. He laughed. ‘And then run me through for my audacity.’

Without giving himself any more time to change his mind, Legolas leapt gracefully onto the unicorn’s back. The next thing he knew, he and this wondrous beast were running effortlessly through the trees. It took only moments to leave the forest behind. As they ran across an open plain, Legolas glanced down and saw that the unicorn’s hooves were striking the ground, yet the feeling was more a sensation of flying. The creature moved like the wind itself.

Leaning forward over the unicorn’s neck, Legolas felt the flowing mane whipping beside his head. Even loving horses as he did, the elf knew there would never be a ride like this one again no matter how many times he tried to recapture the experience.

The two new friends rode for what seemed like hours, covering huge amounts of territory, though the sun never moved. It always remained directly overhead. That had to be a phenomenon of this world, Legolas knew, because that could never happen in his own world.

All too soon the unicorn was heading back into the forest. They reached the clearing by the stream and stopped. The unicorn was not even winded.

Legolas sat unmoving for as long as he dared. He did not want this enchanted adventure to end.

Reluctantly, he finally slid from the broad, snow-white back. He patted the animal’s neck and rubbed its nose. "Thank you, Beautiful One. You have given me a most precious gift."

Legolas somehow knew he would probably never see the unicorn again, yet all he felt was a deep feeling of joy and appreciation for the awesome privilege he had been given. "I will never forget you," he whispered, as he rested his head against the unicorn’s soft neck.

After a moment, the unicorn stepped back. Legolas looked into the its deep blue eyes and knew that he was never supposed to tell anyone what had taken place here today. It would remain a secret he would keep forever in his heart and his memory.

The unicorn, sensing that Legolas understood, held its horn toward the elf. As before, Legolas touched it, aware that doing so would take him back to the world he knew. This time he did not intend to close his eyes, because he wanted to see the transition between worlds take place. It was not to be, however. Legolas felt the familiar tingle and then---nothing.

*~*~*~*

Legolas’s next awareness was of a beam of sunlight shining on his face. That was what had awakened him. He blinked several times and lifted his head. He was lying beside the stream, and all was at it always had been. The colors had muted slightly, and the only sparkles he saw were the ones he usually saw when the sun reflected off of the clear bubbling water of the stream.

Legolas sat up and took a deep breath. He had been asleep, and time had advanced little more than an hour, judging by the sun. Therefore, he concluded that the miraculous experience with the unicorn had been just another dream. His hart fell. ‘No!‘ He couldn’t deny that it had been more real than any elven dream he had ever had. ‘It must have happened,‘ he insisted ‘It was much too intense and joyous to be a dream.’ He could still feel the thrill inside his body.

But when the elf got to his feet and looked around, he saw no hoof prints in the soft soil along the banks of the stream. He looked off in the direction he and the unicorn had taken on their ride. There was nothing there to indicate that any animal larger than a deer had been that way, either.

A deep sorrow he couldn’t hold back flooded Legolas’s heart. He had wanted so much for all of it to be real: the sight of the beautiful creature; the feel of its soft white hair under his hands; the incomparable joy of flying like the wind, as the two of them moved over the ground; the whole sparkling world he had been in. He wanted every vivid detail of those things to really exist.

With a sigh, Legolas turned toward the stream. He was thirsty and wanted to get a drink of the fresh water before his journey back to the palace.

He kneeled down and cupped his hands to dip into the water, when he froze in utter disbelief. Was he seeing what he thought he was seeing? Staring down at his right hand, he slowly brought it closer to his eyes.

He was not imagining it! There on the tip of his right forefinger were---sparkles, like tiny diamonds. His finger was in the direct sunlight, so he moved it into the shade. The sparkles did not fade. "It was real. I did not dream it." Legolas almost whooped with joy. He wanted to shout to all the creatures in the forest that were close enough to hear. However, he knew that the elven warriors his father had sent to protect him would probably be close enough to hear him, as well, and he could not risk revealing his secret. All the while, the prince’s eyes never left his finger. "Thank you, Beautiful One. I promise I will never tell."

Using his left hand, he pulled a small piece of green cloth from his belt pouch and carefully wiped the sparkles from his finger onto the fabric. Folding it up, he tucked it back into the pouch and then turned, retrieved his pack and ran home.

*~*~*~*

When Legolas reached the palace, he went straight to his room. He retrieved the cloth, placing it into a little wooden box he kept under his bed that contained all of the special treasures he had collected since he was a tiny elfling. He laid the green cloth next to a small necklace his mother had made for him soon after he had learned to walk.

He then bathed, changed his clothes and made his way to the family dining room in time to share a mid-day meal with his father.

"Legolas, ion nin," Thranduil greeted. "How was your night in the forest?"

"It went well, Ada." Legolas was trying hard to keep the excitement out of his voice. His father was very perceptive, so he wasn’t sure how successful he was being.

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

For an instant, Legolas was afraid that his father, who seemed to know everything that ever happened in his realm, had known about the unicorn. Had the warriors he knew to be near him in the forest seen what had happened and reported it to the king?

Legolas swallowed hard. "I did, Ada," he managed to get out relatively calmly.

"Good. I am glad," the king declared, saying nothing more on the subject, much to Legolas‘s relief.

A peaceful silence fell between father and son as they ate their meal. It was only a small inconvenience that Legolas found it hard to chew properly while grinning broadly, yet he couldn’t make his face do anything else.

Thranduil smiled at his son. He couldn’t be sure what Legolas had done in the forest, and he had no intention of asking. Yet the king couldn’t help but remember a day many centuries ago, when, as a young prince, he had found a unicorn by a stream in the forest and entered its world for an enchanted adventure, whose vivid memory had not faded with the passing of time.

The End