Chapter Text
It had been surprisingly quiet during his patrol. No orcs, no spiders, nothing but the sound of birds singing and trees rustling in the wind. It should be unsettling, putting Legolas on edge the more time went on, but he couldn’t help but be relieved. For nearly two weeks, he and his warriors had been relentlessly killing orcs and spiders left and right, not getting a single break until today.
They had been lucky to come out unscathed. Well, almost unscathed. Legolas had saved one of his warriors from a painful death at the hand of an orc arrow, pulling him out of the way to get grazed by the arrow. That had fortunately been the only injury he had sustained, the only one any of them had sustained. The wound was quite shallow, making it easy to clean out and tend to. Now it was wrapped up, his sleeve stitched and washed, though some of the fabric was still stained brown from his blood.
Legolas leaned back against the tree he stood in, watching as the sun began its slow descent. His rotation would be ending today, another patrol coming out to take their place, and then he would be free to travel with Aragorn, as soon as the human got here at least. Aragorn was coming back from a winter with the rangers, and he would be coming to Mirkwood for a few days’ rest before the two friends set off for Rivendell. When there, Legolas was sure they would have some kind of adventure that ended with one or both of them under Elrond’s care. They had a certain knack for trouble, or so their fathers say.
Lost in his thoughts, Legolas almost missed the gentle humming from below. Curious, Legolas looked down at the ground to see an old woman walking alone, hunched over and limping, a gnarled cane in her wrinkled and boney hands. She kept mumbling to herself amidst her humming, and from what Legolas could make out of the mumbled mess of words, she was lost, or had lost someone. She was no threat, that much was obvious, so Legolas slung his bow over his shoulder as he came down.
“Hmm, where did that boy get to? Left… no, no right.” She murmured, trying to think of which direction she had to take.
“Miss?” Legolas gently called out, not wanting to startle her. The old woman turned towards him, and her eyes suddenly lit up like stars, a massive smile spreading across her face as she hobbled towards him.
“There you are, my dear! You worried your mother sick, Agnar.” She exclaimed, cupping his face in her hands, he noted that she was missing her third finger on her left hand. “My sweet boy, always getting into trouble. Come, dinner is almost ready.” She thought he was her son.
“Miss, I’m afraid you’re mistaken. I am not Agnar. I am not your son.” Legolas began to explain, wondering if she would be able to recognize that he was in fact not her son. Unfortunately, it seemed that she couldn’t.
“Silly boy, my eyes aren’t gone yet. Come on, I made your favorite.” The old woman took Legolas by his arm and began to lead him away from his station, away from any patrolling elf.
It was clear to Legolas that she needed help, but he wasn’t sure how she would react if he kept trying to correct her, so for now, it couldn’t hurt to indulge her just a little bit. The further she took him, the more she rambled about one thing or another, all about Agnar. Her son was apparently a trapper, and for some reason, she kept mentioning how starved he must be.
“You must be ravenous. Did you see the elves? Did they give you food? Oh, of course they did, you aren’t skin and bones just yet.” She cackled, leading Legolas to a cave.
Legolas had come across this cave before, but not for some time. It appears that during the time he had not come to this part of the forest, she had taken residence in the small cave. There was a drying rack, a pile of wood, animal furs, and some vines blocking the entrance of the cave. One thing that caught his eye the most was a stone, all by itself by a fallen tree. Carved into the stone was a name, Agnar. A sudden wave of sorrow washed over Legolas. This poor woman had lost her son long ago, and with time, she lost her mind as well.
She took Legolas inside the cave, which resembled a home, somewhat at least. There was a table, chairs, two beds, and a fire pit. Small things like vases and blankets here and there made it look more like a home than a campsite. She must have been alone for a long time.
“Sit down, let mama get you a plate.” She smiled, gently pushing Legolas towards an old wooden chair. It creaked with even the slightest of movements, even the light weight of an elf made it groan with strain.
As she made a plate of food for Legolas, the elf began to wonder if it was too late to help the poor woman. Her mind was lost, but she didn’t deserve to live alone, without any contact and at the mercy of the spiders and orcs, both of whom never had mercy on anyone. Perhaps she had other family members looking for her, or other children who were left to wonder if their mother was dead or alive. He couldn’t leave her alone, not out here.
“There we are.” She smiled, placing a crude wooden plate down in front of Legolas containing some mushrooms, carrots, and a meat of some kind. It looked to be pork, and if it was, the creature from which it came had not been fed properly.
The woman looked at him so expectantly, with so much motherly love that Legolas didn’t have the heart to tell her that he wasn’t hungry, and also feared for his stomach if he took even a little bite of the pale, dry meat. Taking the dulled and dented utensils she gave him, Legolas cut off a piece of the meat and took a breath, steeling himself as he put it in his mouth. At the first bite, Legolas was quite surprised to find it tasted quite good, though a little dry, it was well seasoned. The mushrooms and carrots were perfectly seasoned as well, and at the sight of his pleased face, the woman smiled, revealing the few teeth she had left.
“Just the way you like it, dear.” She said, eating her own plate of mashed up vegetables and oats.
They ate in a comfortable silence, or at least comfortable for her. For Legolas, it was a little awkward, but mostly it was sad. The amount of joy she had when he just took a small bite of her food, how she believed him to be her son, how confused she was when he first found her, it was all so sad.
After both plates were clean of food, Legolas offered to clean up, making small talk to get to know this poor woman better.
“You mentioned the elves. Were you looking for them?”
“They were the closest source of food for miles. You were too weak to hunt, but too hungry to go another day without food. Did they offer you food this time? They kept refusing you before, and bad things happen when you’re hungry.” She frowned, confusing Legolas. Had her son come to them to ask for food, or had he perished before he ever had the chance to ask? Did he starve to death? Was that what she meant by bad things?
“Yes, they gave me food, and they’re offering some more. I came to collect you so you might eat.” Legolas said, not straying from the delusion she was trapped in, not yet at least. He would have to, but not until he was sure she was somewhere safe.
“Oh, you sweet boy.” She reached up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Always thinking of your mother. We should be off then, before you get hungry again.” She hobbled away, grabbing a bag that she began to fill with dried meats, what looked to be fresh meat wrapped in cloth, and a bottle of red wine. Grabbing Legolas’ hand to steady herself, the two began the long trek back to the palace, Legolas wondering just how he could convince his father to allow her to stay just for the night. In the morning, he would help her to Dale, where he hoped she had some family waiting for her. If not, he wasn’t sure what happened next, but at least she wouldn’t be in a cave anymore.