Entered in CJ_Callahan 's contest.

Note: pîn loth means little flower

Though Branches Be
But Fallen

Whiteness spiraled through the air with a sense of lethargic ease. As the snow fell, its flakes were lost to a swirling of ethereal frosty cold.

His breath escaped in grey tinged puffs before dissolving into the chill. Flakes of snow had come to rest on his shoulders, crystallizing upon his light hair like morning dew upon a spider web. One footstep after the next left soft indentations in the freshly covered ground. He squinted, gaze passing over the white fringed expanse.

Trees swayed, branches catching amid each other. Upon the ground, bare hints of green could still be seen through the layer of snow. Even less could be seen of the leaves, such having long since been lost to the bite of winter, lost in its frigid melody-swept from the treetops and into the fleeing winds. But there were shapes beyond that, a village-an outlying settlement.

And the company's destination.

The anticipation around him was thick. Glancing over his shoulder, he smiled softly. Behind and around him was his contingent of warriors, the elves murmuring amongst themselves. Their cloaks were drawn near around them, hoods casting long shadows upon their faces. With each step forward, eagerness grew, for after a long sojourn along near to the forest's southern edge, this settlement would be a brief respite before the remaining journey to the stronghold-to home.

As the snow ceased falling, the settlement became clearer, its blurred outline shifting to become distinct homes and structure. The outline of a fence, the rising silhouettes of barren trees, footprints leading to and away-and then people, voices, a murmur, a shout.

"Tiro, tiro! I Maethyr tolo!"

And that was a voice he recognized. A smile touched his lips as a small shape came running from the village edge, hair in the wind and skirts caught under about her heels. Small giggles increased in volume as she neared, few short phrases continually reaching his ears. "Legolas, Legolas! You came! You're back!"

His knees hit the snow just moments before the shape slammed into his chest, soft yet impactful, seeming to be bubbling over with excitement. "Of course I am, pîn loth." He pressed a kiss to her forehead, his fingers lost in the waves of her light hair. "I told you I would return, did I not?" At her blush and smile, he feigned mock hurt. "Why, Aurmeril, did you truly believe that I would go back on my word to you?"

"No!" Aurmeril giggled again, eyes alight with a sparkling mischief. "Well, maybe a little... But I knew that you're a prince, and that princes can never break a promise."

Legolas' thumb grazed her cheekbone as he smiled. "Precisely, pîn loth, and don't you e'er forget it." Looking about him, he caught sight of the warriors that still waited for him to give them leave to continue past him and further past the fence. With a small nod of his head, such was granted, and the tired figures continued into the heart of the settlement, smiles and greetings with them. Their cloaks appeared fluid in the light breeze, twirling about as if caught upon a spindle's head. Turning his attention back to the gwend in front of him, he stood, catching her hand in his. "Now tell me, where are your adar and naneth? Certainly they must be wondering what trouble you've gotten yourself into."

Aurmeril sighed, looking up at Legolas with wide eyes that could only speak of practiced pleading. "Nana wants me home soon. She said that I must do sewing lessons before playing today."

Legolas tsk-ed as sympathetically as he could muster. "Ai, then I suppose you must go to her before she begins to worry. T'would not be proper for you to keep her waiting."

Another sigh, and Aurmeril shoved hand into her skirt pocket. "If you say so, Legolas. But I would much rather spend the whole day with you." Her foot traced a faint line into the snow as she sought to argue her case, fingers tightening around Legolas' palm.

"Oh, but then I am quite sure you would find time with me rather dull, pîn loth. And then what would we do?" Before Aurmeril could object-and therefore delay her departure-he added, "Now the sooner you finish your lessons, the sooner we might embark on an adventure-and you must bring your cloak." Though she may not yet feel the chill, the days that the warriors had spent in its cool embrace were testament enough to how encapsulating the bitter weather had become.

Seeming to forget her woes and reluctance, Aurmeril gasped, "Oh yes! I do love our adventures." She lowered her voice to a whisper, glancing about the area as if in search of stray elflings who might happen to intercept their conversation. "I have the most wondrous hiding spot to show you. Just wait, you'll see. It's magical." Slipping her hand from Legolas' grasp, she stepped away, dipping into a curtsy before scampering away.

Strange warmth crept into Legolas' chest as he watched her leave, her innocent joy too alive to not be contagious. Aurmeril had always been enthusiastic when the warriors came. Their passing through the village had become something of a gift-a tradition even. One that Aurmeril refused to allow to pass without notice. If he were to wager a guess, he might have said that the gwend's midwinter was characterized by the occasion every time they visited.

A presence came by Legolas' shoulder. His lieutenant-Forven-barely concealed a smile. "I can't quite tell who has the other more mesmerized-you or her."

Legolas turned an accusing eye on his second. "Is that jealousy I hear in your voice, mellon?"

The warrior shook his head, smile flourishing. "Not at all-I only worry what the poor child will think when she realizes that her warrior prince is far less infallible than she believes."

"Ai, you wound me. You believe me fallible? And after all these years."

"Years of you only proving my words. Now"-he placed a hand on Legolas' shoulder, gesturing towards the settlement-"I would suggest that you conduct whatever other business there is to be had before Aurmeril returns with her imagination in tow."

Legolas shook his head, but did not raise an argument. Instead, he tilted his chin, brows drawn together. "You sound so cheery, gwador. I can hear the spirit of Yule in your voice. Truly, it's admirable to say the least."

"Oh, hush, you." Forven jabbed Legolas' side gently. "There will be aught time for my own celebration upon return to the stronghold. Enjoy your time here with Aurmeril. Yule at the stronghold is hardly as exciting as celebration spent on an adventure with a child."

Smiling and murmuring his agreement, Legolas gripped the edges of his cloak, turning to venture into the village, eager to hear of its standing. Word from messengers could hardly be entirely telling of how a people's spirits faired, especially in the dark times of both shadow and winter. As he entered the settlement's inner circles, elves emerged to meet him, greetings filtering through the air alongside laughter and joy.

Scarcely over an hour passed in such a manner. Brief conversations, gleaning of news-one after the other, a continuous series of similar events-until it just... stopped.

One moment a thousand voices filtered into his consciousness and he answered everyone with a smile and grace, and then there was no more. He found himself by the fire its warmth casting a glow upon his being in flickering rhythm. But there was no longer a commotion. No longer was there a great excitement. Just... peace. He breathed deeply, a breath filled with the imitations of smoke and frost. He looked at his hands, a small branch twirling between his fingers. Its flaking bark left soft indentations in his skin, tinted brown and black and white and filled with the reminiscence of a hundred years.

The bark was soft. His warming hands hardly felt its faults lest his skin catch on a peeling layer of the bark. He smiled. This peace. It was strange-always had been, for so long as his memory could reach. Strange that life rushed by like a river melted in spring's warmth-but for few moments caught in the thralls of midwinter.

And then his reverie was pierced by a voice that would inevitably return. "Legolas! Are you ready for our adventure?"

Legolas shrugged his hood off, turning to smile at the speaker. "Ah, have you finished with your lesson, pîn loth?"

"Yes!" Aurmeril's feet seemed to hardly touch the snow in her haste to reach Legolas' side. Slipping her hand in his and tugging them both away from the fire. "Now, saes, come! You must see what I have found."

Legolas laughed. "Aye, I will. But," he paused, raising an eyebrow as he scrutinized Aurmeril's appearance, "I might think that your naneth would have told you to put on a cloak before venturing into the cold." He tried to remain firm, but a touch of humor could not be kept from his voice.

Aurmeril's mouth fell agape as she looked down at her skirts. "Oh, I forgot... But, it's okay. We can go look at my thing and then come back." Before Legolas could so much as voice an objection, Aurmeril had scampered away, babbling about some nonsense or the other.

With a chuckle and shake of his head, Legolas followed, hurrying to keep in time with the excited gwend. He came along her side as she began a tale about ogres and trolls and flowers and gardens-a fantasy of her own making, judging by the impossibility of the story, but entertaining nonetheless. Only a short word of acknowledgment from Legolas prompted her onwards in her telling of a tale that she assured him involved a conversation with faeries of the wood. Several minutes passed in such a manner, until she abruptly stopped and looked up at Legolas.

"Now, listen, Caun Legolas, we're almost there. But there could be dangerous things about so we must be careful." She stared up at him seriously, chin set and eyes solemn.

Keeping with the tone Aurmeril presented, he nodded gravely. "Aye, Aurmeril, I will be wary." He pulled an arrow from the quiver, eyes wandering along the forest edge. "Never fear, I will protect you, be there ogre, troll, or unworthy suitor."

Aurmeril tittered, holding fistfuls of her skirt. "Oh, Legolas, truly you are silly. Now, come on, we didn't come this whole way for nothing." With that, she ducked under a low hanging branch-Legolas following by stepping over it-and ventured past a hedge of bushes and tree roots, through a veil of deadened vines. How Aurmeril might have happened upon wherever they were headed was a mystery-it certainly wasn't easily come by.

"We're almost there," she said. "Just a little farther and-ah, here it is!"

He had to meander around a tree and under another branch, but then he saw it. A cave carved into a large rock formation. In the spring, it likely had vast amount of greenery and flowers flourishing about it, but in the winter months, snow took residence as a soft, sheer sheet upon its being. The cave was deep-as if it were in the heights of a mountain, beginning several feet above the forest ground. "Well now is that not wondrous?"

"Oh, isn't it?! Come now, Caun Legolas, you must see the inside." Aurmeril ran forward, reaching up to the cave's edge and pulling herself up-a spritely thing she was.

"Go inside a cave? Why, Aurmeril, are you a dwarf and I didn't know?"

"What? No! Don't you know-many castles are made of stone. So I think this could be my castle."

"Au, yes, it appears I was mistaken. A princess like you deserves no less than her own castle." Coming to the cave's outcropping, Legolas easily stepped up into it, crawling before coming to his feet. "What a fantastic dwelling you have found, pin loth. Have you shown you adar and naneth?" Should Aurmeril ever come alone, surely someone should know of her whereabouts should time ever be lost to her fantastical mind.

"Ada came with me once, but that was lots of weeks ago. He and nana have been busy talking about things like the Shadow and warriors and the King and-oh. Oh, never mind. Nana says I shouldn't repeat the things I hear on accident."

"And your nana is a very wise elleth," Legolas said. His heart saddened to hear her speak of something as threatening as the Shadow as if it were as common as the sun's shine in the summer. Since the day she had been born, the Shadow had been a constant-an ever present gloom on the fringe of every thought.

"That's what Ada says... Now come! Deeper in, it is even prettier."

"No prettier than you I'm sure." And I relished in the smile my comment gave her pink tinged face. "Then we must go back, Aurmeril. Don't think I haven't noticed your shivering."

"I'm not cold," Aurmeril said, visibly restraining a shudder.

Legolas began to reply, but quieted as a rumbled echoed through the cave. He cocked his head, listening, waiting... Aurmeril began to speak, but at a raise of Legolas' hand she ceased speaking.

The rumble came again. Low, quiet, ominous. Then again. Louder. Legolas' breath caught in his chest-there was a moment of stillness-and then he was in motion. "Aurmeril, listen, we must leave or-"

But his warning came too late. The distant rumble turned into a roaring crumble, crackling, pounding, drumming, pouring-and the rocks were falling. Legolas did all that he could think to do. He jumped forward, Aurmeril just barely in his reach. Curling forward, he wrapped his arms about her small body. The rocks reigned down, and Legolas barely contained a shout as they hit upon his back, and arms, and neck, and then his head and, ai, Valar he there was blackness and blinding light and he couldn't see and it hurt, and he couldn't breathe and then-

-then it was quiet.

He didn't know how long passed. Second, minutes, hours, it was just time, and in this instance, it was time that he could not be bothered to keep track of. His mind could not distinguish one thought from the other; one idea from the one that followed. But he knew that it hurt, and it was cold, and there was... a voice?

Realization dawned. A voice.

Caun Legolas, saes, be alright, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry I didn't know this would happen... Oh, saes, wake up, don't be... don't be...

It was a voice he knew. One that he didn't hear often, but it was not unknown. It sounded scared, fragile even. Small. Scared.

Don't be dead.

And then he was awake, moving, shifting. That voice could not be allowed to suffer. "Hush, pîn loth." His voice was barely a croak and he struggled to put more force behind it. "Are you hurt?"

"No, no, I'm fine, but you are, Legolas."

Legolas forced a chuckle. "I just hit my head a bit, that's all. No need to worry." It wasn't entirely true. There was blood, primarily at the base of his neck and trailing down his back. And there may be something mildly wrong with his wrist. He hoped Aurmeril wouldn't notice.

Turning his attention to their situation, he assessed the circumstance. Undoubtedly, there had been a cave in-that much was obvious. But it seemed some part of the damage of the collapse now rested on his back, and Aurmeril lay huddled underneath him. "Listen now, I'm going to try to get us out from under here, all right? I'm going to try to get off of you, and as soon as you can, try to crawl out. But if anything starts to hurt, you just let me know." A moment passed as he gathered sufficient breath. Hands flat upon the ground, he pushed up, back protesting every movement. Slowly, he managed to bring his knees to be perpendicular to the ground. Few rocks fell, but no immediate threat reappeared.

There was a flash of movement. Aurmeril was no longer under his protective bridge. With that knowledge, he slackened in his resolve, gradually allowing his joints to unlock. He slowly lowered back down, debating options before settling on one course of actions. Just before the rocks settled again, his muscles coiled, gaze wandering upwards. In a burst of energy, he hurled himself forward, wincing at the sound of rocks tumbling back down on top of each other.

But he was free of it.

Gradually, Legolas sat up, looking about him though his eyes consistently caught on Aurmeril's wide, frightened eyes. The reality that he refused to admit shone in her eyes, as if condemning him to a fate that he would much rather flee for a thousand years.

They were trapped.

He squinted at the pile of rocks. It reached the ceiling, completely blocking entrance or exit. There was a chance that he might be able dislodge some of the rocks-but to do it alone, there was the distinct possibility that the entire structure would come crumbling down on top of him. "Well, this is proving to be quite the adventure, isn't it?" The pale, frightened gwend beside him flinched as his voice broke the stillness, but then bit her lip in a vain concealment of grin. "Let's see if we can't get out of here, hm?"

Legolas tried to keep the strain of his thoughts from his words. Even by pressing a hand against the rocks, he knew there was no way. This rock formation had been too large for them to find an obscure exit near the back wall. The way they entered was all to obviously sealed.

If the cold did not reach them first, it would only be few short hours-eight at most-before the air in the cave was spent.

Hours that would pass with their absence being unnoticed.

Hours that would eventually lead to a search being made, this cave being the last possible location on any mind.

Hours that would consist of a frantic attempt to free them from the confines of the cave.

Hours that Legolas could not waste.

He turned to Aurmeril. "Well that looks to be sufficiently blocked off. Have you found anything?"

Aurmeril, who had scarcely moved from her spot, shook her head slowly, still biting her lip. Her legs were crossed, one foot set opposite of the other as her hands fiddled with a strand of her dark locks. Snowflakes had come to settle on her pale blonde hair, giving it the appearance of a crystallized thread.

"Then I suppose we'd best settle in and wait for the warriors to come rescue us, shouldn't we?" Legolas leant against the nearest cave wall, muffling a groan by coughing into his shoulder sleeve as he slid down to the cold stone floor. Perhaps that bump to the head had been a bit more than a bump.

He heard a sharp gasp, then a sniffle. Glancing up, he looked into the glistening eyes of Aurmeril. "Do you think they'll truly find us?"

"I am certain they will, pîn loth." And he was. He simply was unsure when such would be. "Now I don't want to see any more tears. So long as we are here together, we may as well enjoy our time." He frowned, not missing the shiver that ran down her spine and into her shoulders. "Do you see now why you must listen to your Nana and bring a cloak when she tells you to?" Even as he said it, he reached for the clasp of his own cloak, slipping it from about his frame. "Come here, let's warm you up."

Aurmeril obeyed, scraping her feet forward, but a protest sprang from her lips. "Oh, but, caun-nin, I could not! Tis your cloak, you need it."

Legolas shook his head. "Tis a gift. I've been in the cold long enough, pîn loth. I'm quite used to its chill by now." He winked to punctuate the statement. Somehow, perhaps the gesture would offer a subtle reassurance.

Before Aurmeril could protest again, he had the cloak tucked around her as a butterfly's cocoon, setting her gently next to him by the wall. It would not be a lasting solution against the cold. Given time, the cold would seep past the cloths offering of warmth, but until then it might offer some small comfort. Unfortunately, there was no firewood in the cave, and even should there be, they could not afford to waste precious air upon its fumes.

Fright still exuded from Aurmeril's posture, her lip quivering from more than just the cold. Her eyes looked about the cave, as if searching for a warg to spring from the far reaches of its shadows. Legolas refused to allow it to continue.

"Tell me, Aurmeril, what will you be doing for Yule?"

His words seemed to light a spark within the gwend as she began her tale. "Oh, Nana says that it is going to be wondrous. I can hardly recall last year's-although she says she is certain that I was there and I was too tired then to remember it now-but I know it's going to be beautiful." She rocked back and forth, her feet brushing the snow dusted ground. "Nana says that there will be a wonderful party, and there will be dancing and music and cakes-"

And so her words continued on and on and on, as she scarcely paused to take a breath. For a moment, Legolas closed his eyes contentedly, listening as she continued. Her ideas may be exaggerated, hopes lofty for even a celebration of the woodland elves-but ai, they were beautiful. It was as if she painted the stars with her words, describing their lights as she would the branches of a tree.

"What will you do, Legolas?"

Legolas startled from his position, turning his head to better see Aurmeril's inquisitive gaze. "What will I do?" Waiting for Aurmeril's confirming nod, he continued, "Well at the stronghold-the castle, I suppose things are much the same as here. But... but the celebrations is different. There are many warriors, but then there are still the lords and ladies and councilors. There is dancing, out under the moon, upon the seas of the night's turbulent light. We sing-of the trees, of our battles, of the stars... It's almost like a dream of legend and myth, spun into the existence of truth. Later though... When the celebrations have quieted... My adar and I-we stand together. And we look at the forest in its glory. For, at night the shadows disappear and..." He looked down as he noticed that his own voice had been the only one present in the cave for far too long.

Aurmeril's eyes were trained on a far wall, gaze distant and seeming to see nothing. Her shoulders shook under the weight of the cloak, her breaths uneven and long.

"What are you thinking on, pîn loth?"

A sad mist had clouded over Aurmeril's characteristically happy features. The essence of concern creased her brow. "Legolas-do... do you miss your nana? I-I mean, the Queen."

By those words Legolas' movements dispelled. Memories, nearly forgotten but still lingering slipped before him. Of laughter richer than the sun that alighted upon her. The love that he somehow knew though he could not remember how. The pain of the voices of strangers tainting her memory with lies.

But then he looked in her eyes-the green of them lightened by a frosted shroud of innocence. In that second, all the hurts of the past were lost to a compassion that he could not recall the beginnings of. "Aye... I miss her." He swallowed hard. "Though I hardly have memory of her." And if his voice shook, there was no shame or judgement to be found. "But... there are some rare moments-fleeting and swift, yet dear, where my adar and I will speak of her and-and remember. He tells me she loved to laugh. The treetops were her home... And her eyes spoke of hope that few ever know or imagine." He fingered a stray strand of Aurmeril's hair, smoothing it back behind her ear. "Just like you, penneth."

Legolas' voice brought a sense of calm to the dim cave. Aurmeril hummed contentedly, leaning further toward Legolas and resting her head against his side. "She sounds lovely."

Murmuring his agreement, Legolas lifted his arm, wrapping his arm about the gwend. He winced as the movement pulled at the gashes that he knew were on his back. A deep dark fringe had been steadily growing along the edges of his vision. Sleep lured him towards its confines, and he could only just continue to resist. By the drooping eyes of Aurmeril, she felt much the same. Her breathing was slowing, evening out.

His hold around her tightened, as did his hold to consciousness. The moment that rescue arose, he would be ready for the both of them.

______________________

One hour passed.

Then another.

Aurmeril awoke every short while, but once she had established safety, she would settle back into the cloak's warmth, fading back into dreams.

The cold seeped further into the cave. They were not yet in danger-but they soon would be.

And then he heard it. A rumble again, but this one was gentler, more distinct. It came and went, slow but consistent. A promise was within it.

Tension left him as voices began to filter into the cave, light shining in as an entrance was made. Voices called, he shouted an answer, and then elves were pouring in. As a presence came near him, Legolas looked up, finding his lieutenant to be crouching at his side.

"You are a fool, do you know that?"

Legolas would have rolled his eyes had he been motivated to keep them open.

______________________

Evening came, transcending to dawn.

There was still a pounding in his head, just behind his eyes, but it was fading. The exit from the cave's confines had been simple-from what Legolas could recall of it. With as many willing hands as there were between the village and warriors, removing the pile of rocks had been barely more than a challenge.

Then all had been a blur of voices, and fire, and warmth. Someone-probably one of his warriors-had seen to his back at some point, and someone else continually told that he had a concussion and couldn't sleep yet. But finally, as the moon came alongside stars, they'd relented and peaceful rest had been granted. As the sun rose the next day, Legolas was prepared.

But he knew someone who was not.

The company stood along the settlement's edge, prepared to depart whenever their prince was. They had been lingering for some time, just watching, keeping a vigil until the sun's portrait was fully painted upon the horizon. They were soon to set out when the inevitable visitor came running up to Legolas.

"Don't leave yet, Legolas!" She stopped short just in front of him, a brown bundle in her arms. "You can't forget your cloak."

Legolas smiled. "That's alright, Aurmeril. I told you it was a gift, did I not?"

"Well, yes, but I do not want you to be cold..."

"I have plenty more, Aurmeril. Do not worry."

It would be a journey of scarcely more than a few hours before they reached the stronghold. Hardly a cause for concern. But when he looked into Aurmeril's eyes, all he saw was a gleaming fear that could only be born of the events not yet a day's past.

Crouching, Legolas spread his arms and she flung herself into them. He pulled her nearer as she pressed her cheek to his shoulder. "Will you promise to come back soon?"

Legolas couldn't promise when or if he ever could. Every year brought new trials. There were too many possibilities to consider; too much uncertainty. He breathed in the flowered scent of her hair. "I'll see you again one day, pîn loth. I promise."

Finger grazing her cheek, he pressed a kiss onto her forehead, and then stood. He bowed and she in turn curtsied. And he walked away, a tune of Yule upon his lips, hope within his heart.

______________________

For airwren and SunnyTreasures , two truly amazing and dear ellyth that I have met. May your imaginations never cease their wanderings, mellyn-nin. <3

And in addition, thanks to elfindisguise , jordieblob16 , cadwellfantasy , Lost_in_a_Daydream , and epicredpenn who made 2016 a magical year to write in.

Translations:

Ada/Adar : daddy/father
Ai : a vocal exclamation
Caun-nin : my prince
elleth : female elf
gwend : maiden (young girl)
mellon :friend
Nana/Naneth : mama/mother
Penneth : young one
pîn loth : little flower
Tiro, tiro! I maethyr tolo! : Look, look! The warriors come!