(I’m so flattered to see my fill being used for a prompt. Thanks! And I’ve had another idea for this subject, so I’m going to sneak this—even more wildly AU-ish—fill in here.)
The shadows fled from the forest, and Legolas looked at the Ring on his finger in wonder: Centuries of corruption melted away—spiders, bats, Orcs, and the malevolent weight of ancient evil were gone—and the bark of the trees grew over the scars left by the fire of the Orcs, and Legolas felt the deep memory of the forest again—primordial and pure—when he pressed his hand against the trunks of the trees.
As the trees whispered of their freedom, he marveled at the power that had so easily healed the forest and brought unlooked-for peace after centuries of the Elves’ hiding themselves away from the encroaching darkness: His father would no longer have to fight a battle pitched against him, ever in danger of being cut down by the Shadow as his own father had been, and no more Elven blood would have to be spilled in defense of these lands that had been watered with the blood of his people.
But even as the darkness retreated from the Greenwood, the Shadow fell upon the neighboring lands, and its foul creatures scuttled underneath the cover of its shade, setting upon Esgaroth and Dale first, then Erebor, then the Ered Mithrin, then the Iron Hills, until the fingers of the Shadow in the north reached to the south to join with Mordor.
Legolas
The shadows fled from the forest, and Legolas looked at the Ring on his finger in wonder: Centuries of corruption melted away—spiders, bats, Orcs, and the malevolent weight of ancient evil were gone—and the bark of the trees grew over the scars left by the fire of the Orcs, and Legolas felt the deep memory of the forest again—primordial and pure—when he pressed his hand against the trunks of the trees.
As the trees whispered of their freedom, he marveled at the power that had so easily healed the forest and brought unlooked-for peace after centuries of the Elves’ hiding themselves away from the encroaching darkness: His father would no longer have to fight a battle pitched against him, ever in danger of being cut down by the Shadow as his own father had been, and no more Elven blood would have to be spilled in defense of these lands that had been watered with the blood of his people.
But even as the darkness retreated from the Greenwood, the Shadow fell upon the neighboring lands, and its foul creatures scuttled underneath the cover of its shade, setting upon Esgaroth and Dale first, then Erebor, then the Ered Mithrin, then the Iron Hills, until the fingers of the Shadow in the north reached to the south to join with Mordor.