Elrond sat at the head of the table and waited as his sons settled themselves around it, ready for dinner. His gaze fell on the empty seat beside his youngest son. "Where is Legolas?" he inquired with a raised eyebrow.

Aragorn snickered at the question. "Probably still trying to find a way back to his room without being noticed."

Elladan and Elrohir’s ears perked up at what their brother said. "You pulled your prank without us?" the older twin cut in. "What did you do?!"

"Yes, tell us!" Elrohir interrupted his twin and leaned across the table, staring at his human brother. "I knew you were up to no good."

Aragorn grinned from ear to ear.

"Stop grinning and start talking..."

"Before we hurt you..."

Elrond leaned back against his chair and watched with a smile as Elladan and Elrohir grilled their little brother for information.

"You did what?!?" Elladan choked as Aragorn told them from how he gained Legolas’ trust to how he stole the elf’s clothes while he was swimming.

Elrohir was laughing so hard that his face had turned a dark shade of pink and he had to brace himself on the edge of the table to avoid sliding to the floor.

"So... so you mean... there is a-a... naked elf running around in the woods?" Elladan managed to ask between gasps of hysterical laughter.

"Not entirely. He still had his underwear." Aragorn answered with a serious tone.

That sent the twins into another giggling fit.

"Then I led him to the North side of the lake, to the area with the dense undergrowth and tricked him into thinking that I’d left him some cloth..."

"Did you say the North side?" Elrohir sobered immediately and pushed himself upright from the table.

"Umm... yes, the part with lots of brush. Is something wrong?" Aragorn tensed at his brother’s sudden, serious demeanor.

Elladan looked over at Elrohir. "The traps!" the older twin shouted and jumped up from his chair, knocking it over in the process.

"What traps?!" the young human sprang to his feet, looking wildly from one twin to the other.

The two brothers started talking simultaneously but were stopped by their father, whose presence was completely forgotten by the three.

"Silence!" the elf lord commanded and the room fell dead silent. "One at a time." Elrond nodded at Elladan. "You first."

"There have been reports of wolves wandering in that area after nightfall, attacking lone travellers. We have set up traps to get rid of them." Elladan explained.

"A seven-foot deep pit was dug, a few days ago and Elladan and I went to set up the rest of the traps this morning." the younger twin added. "And we saw a piece of white cloth hanging from the branch of a tree... was that the cloth you were talking about?"

Blood drained from the ranger’s face and he nodded dumbly.

"It’s amazing that you didn’t end up in the pit! But Legolas could have triggered the traps. I think it’s best we go find him!" Elladan spoke quickly, grabbed Elrohir and Aragorn by the arms and dragged them towards the door.

"Don’t forget the rope! And take a blanket!" Elrond called out and sighed, exasperatedly. Dinner would have to wait. He had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. Rising from his chair, the elf lord made his way to
the healing room in order to retrieve his pack. This would be a long night unless by some miracle the four returned without a scratch. Elrond shook his head. He did not think he would be that lucky.

***

A drop of water fell onto his cheek followed by another. Legolas struggled to open his eyes but his lids felt like they had been fused together. He concentrated hard and commanded them to open and after several long minutes, he managed to pry his heavy lids open a slit. He had no idea how long he had been out but judging by the shadow, or more like the lack of, many hours had passed. He felt feverish, the heat emanating from within told him that his leg wound was most probably infected.

Another drop of water fell from above onto his mouth. The cool liquid slipped through between his dry lips igniting a raging thirst in him. He wished for more and his wishes came true when several more large droplets splattered onto his face and body. As the rain got heavier, the elf began to feel a little concerned. The gods must be playing a joke on him. First he got sprawled out naked at the bottom of a pit and now they had decided to give him a mud bath.

Legolas flexed his fingers and was surprised that they actually moved. The poison must be wearing off. He wiggled his toes as feeling slowly crept back into his limbs. The rain water seeped into the ground beneath him, turning lose dirt into mud.

*Great! Now I’m being transformed into some swamp monster*

As the numbness slowly wore off, the pains in his body decided to make themselves known. The wound on his thigh throbbed painfully as he tried to move his leg and he wondered what other injuries he had sustained during the fall.

The ground beneath his bare body turned soggy quickly and he knew that he had to sit up before the mud swallowed him. Pushing himself up on one elbow, the elf groaned as a sharp pain flared across his chest making him fall back towards the ground. Legolas took a moment to catch his breath and tried again, this time he was prepared for the pain. He managed to push himself upright but the sudden change in position and the intense pain made him dizzy and his vision blurred. Leaning heavily against the wall, he closed his eyes and gathered himself.

*Okay, definitely broken something there*

Mud washed down from the sides of the pit, soaking into his hair making Legolas cringe. It would take him days to get the mud out. He tried to stand on his good leg but the limb was still too weak to support his weight. Flopping down onto the ground unceremoniously, he felt the cold mud ooze into his underwear.

"Arrrghhh!!" the prince groaned out in frustration.

Legolas...

Someone was calling his name but it sounded far away. Maybe it was only his imagination.

*I must have hit my head harder than I thought*

The voice... no... voices came again, this time a little louder and closer. They sounded like his friends.

"Er! Umm ere!!" the elf shouted but the words didn’t come out right. His tongue and lips were still numb. He tried to call again but before he could do that, three heads appeared over the hole above him.

Elladan’s jaw dropped when he saw the almost naked and muddy prince. He did not know whether to laugh or to feel sorry for him. Although they already knew that the prince would be unclothed, it was still amusing to actually
see it.

Elrohir snickered beside his twin brother and earned an elbow to his side.

"Be sympathetic brother," Elladan scolded and tried to keep a straight face but failed miserably. That only made Elrohir laugh even harder. Fortunately for the young prince, mud was covering most of his bare skin. At least he
was partially ‘covered’.

Aragorn peered down at his friend. "Can you get out?" the ranger asked, more concerned for his friend’s well being than the comical state he was in.

Legolas stared up at the human and rolled his eyes making Aragorn wince at his own question. Of course he couldn’t. Otherwise he wouldn’t be stuck in there. The ranger released a lank of rope down into the pit indicating for
the prince to climb out but Legolas looked up at the human and shook his head, pointing to his chest and then leg. "Can’t. Urt."

Aragorn paled. Not only had he humiliated his friend, but he had also, unintentionally, caused him physical harm. Feeling extremely guilty for what had happened, he offered to go down to retrieve the injured elf. Climbing
down the rope easily, the ranger landed with a splash and the mud splattered onto Legolas’ face. The elf prince sputtered as Aragorn knelt down beside him trying to assess his injuries but Legolas swatted his hands away.

"Out." Legolas pointed upward and wiped the mud out of his eyes. He wanted to get out of this mud pit as soon as possible.

Understanding very well what the elf meant, Aragorn tied the rope under the elf’s arms carefully trying hard not to jostle the injured being any further. He gave his friend’s shoulder a light squeeze. "This will hurt," he said apologetically. Legolas only nodded.

The ranger gave the rope two sharp tugs signalling for Elladan and Elrohir to start pulling. The prince yelped as the rope tightened around his chest jarring his injured ribs. He bit down hard on his lower lip and gritted his teeth to prevent himself from crying out loud. When they finally pulled him out, Elladan untied the rope and tossed it down for Aragorn while Elrohir quickly wrapped the blanket around the trembling wood-elf.

The rain abated and stopped completely in the next few minutes after the rescue. The three brothers crowded around Legolas shooting him with questions, the twins asking him what exactly happened and Aragorn asking where he was hurt. The torrent of questions sent flashes of pain across his temples and he held his head between his hands, moaning loudly. The questions stopped immediately and three pairs of eyes looked at him intently. "Later," he grunted. Right now, all he wanted was a hot bath and a warm bed. "Home. Bath. Sleep." The prince muttered.

Elladan cleaned the wound on Legolas’ thigh and bandaged it neatly before Elrohir and Aragorn helped him up onto his feet but the prince wobbled dangerously and grimaced as the weight was put on his right leg.

"That’s it. I’m carrying you." Aragorn bent down and scooped up the elf into his arms before Legolas could protest.

Legolas didn’t care what they did to him. They could drag him back behind them for all he cared. His head was pounding so badly that he felt like it was going to split into two soon. He just wanted to go home.

The burning heat coming from Legolas’ body worried the ranger. He regretted deeply for pulling the prank on his best friend and apologized repeatedly to the prone body but his words fell on deaf ears. Legolas had long fallen into
the merciful state of unconsciousness.

"Father will not like this," the human told his brothers as they hurried back towards the house.

"No he will not," the older twin answered.

"He is going to kill me!" Aragorn added with a tinge of panic in his voice.

The ranger sighed and shifted the bundle in his arms. Legolas had better be all right. If not, he would never be able to forgive himself.

"It’s not your fault that things turned out like that. You didn’t know about the traps," Elladan tried to comfort his human brother. The young man was beating himself up again for things that he had no control over.

To Be Continued...