You will notice that Legolas is my hero. He will come across as such in most chapters, and I am very partial to our elven archer. He is the only character that I promise will at least be mentioned in every chapter. Do not flame me for this, for I have now given you fair warning.

This will not be slash. Here, my main intention is friendship. Bromance if you wish. Will you interpret it as more than that is your choice, and I shall take no responsibility for what happens, shall this belief be dissuaded by any of the chapters. Although the females will take no prominent part, as this is not a story of them, they may appear once in a while.

And finally, because I am a bit of a sadist, someone will, more than likely, get hurt. More than once. More than likely, this someone will be Legolas. Or Aragorn. Or everyone. In the rare occurrence that everyone shall go without physical harm; I will be sure to inflict some mental hurt in their tortured minds. If this does not please you, search elsewhere for your story. Much enjoyment to you, my friends.

Obviously, I do not own any of these characters, nor would I want to, as I could never do them justice.

In "Of Years Gone By", every chapter is a separate story/snippet (length varies greatly) in itself. It will be possible to read any chapter, at any time (even if some are related to each other). That is also how I have written them, although I will try to publish them in a somewhat chronological order. Every chapter is written in first-person.

Please, read and review ;)

Of Elflings and Perceived Mischief

Elladan POV

Wherein Legolas is 13, and drives the sons of Elrond to madness.

'Elladan! Elrohir!' the shout went through the walls and into the room where my brother and I were hiding from the elfling. We gave each other a quick look of terror.

I had not known what I had promised when I had said that I would take care of the young prince of Mirkwood while our fathers conferred. My brother definitely had not known, when he had said he would help me.

We have a smaller sister! And we have taken care of Isildur's heirs for a long while. We thought a thirteen-year-old elfling would be no difficulties for us, who had such experience. More experience than Thranduil himself, in fact, for he had never taken care of siblings or children.

It meant little, we noticed. This elfling was spawned from the depths of Mordor for certain. So far during his visit in Imladris, which had only been two days long, he had managed to flood the kitchens, let loose all horses, interfered with the council (chasing one of the aforementioned horses), stopped the waterfall (do not ask), and nearly drowned in the river.

'I cannot do this anymore.' Elrohir said silently, looking at me with wide eyes.

'We were hasty in our promise, brother. But it is done, we must face the consequences.' I swallowed, and he shook his head.

'Please no.'

'If something befalls him when we are hiding, we are certain to be chastised.'

'Something will befall him whether we are hiding or not, and we shall be chastised either way. Is it not better to stay, brother?'

'Be not weak of heart.' I took a deep breath, and winced when I heard a plate shatter and fall down the stairs. 'We must go.' I put my hand or Elrohir's shoulder. 'Should not all go well, brother, know that I love you, and would not leave you willingly.'

'And the same from me.' He said, squeezing my hand, and I opened the door.

'Elladan! There you are!' Legolas said, a deceptively beautiful smile upon his face.

'What was the crash that we heard?'

He looked up at me innocently.

'The servant stumbled on that poor root.' He pointed at the root of a tree. I squinted at it. Did it not look slightly higher than it had during the last century?

'So you had nothing to do with it?'

'I could not control where the tree grows any more than you, Elladan.' He smiled. Having handled the heirs of Isildur during the last centuries, I had almost forgotten how elflings grew, for there are not many elflings in this age of War and Turmoil. If I were to see him as a Man, I would think him no older than five or six, but his mind is much advanced to that of Men.

'Very well.' I nodded.

'What are we doing today?' He asked. 'Can we go to the waterfall again?'

'They just managed to remove all the boulders you sent its way, I think we shall leave it in peace for today.' Elrohir said.

'Oh,' Legolas muttered, slightly miffed. 'Then I want to climb the oak-tree.'

We looked at each other wearily; my brother and I. How much trouble could a wood-elf be in a tree? He would not fall, which was certain, but he would without a doubt find some way to make our life miserable.

'Why do we not just… go for a ride?' Elrohir said and I turned to him in horror. He realized what he had said, closed his eyes and sighed, surrendering himself to the inevitable.

'Yes!'

'He rides with you.' I growled, and we went to the stables, where the gray Celephind and the golden Malen where waiting for us, as always. Except for yesterday, when a stray elven boy had told them all to run off. And they had listened!

Malen pushed at me with his head, feeling that I was not entirely happy with him, so I spoke with him softly to ease his worries before vaulting onto his back.

'Where to, young prince?' Elrohir asked the boy in front of him, and he spoke with Celephind who turned his ears towards the boy.

'Trollshaws!' he said, and Elrohir's horse immediately set off at a canter, mine happily following.

'Nay!' Elrohir cried, confusing the horse. Sometimes I cursed that Elves are in fact much more persuasive with beasts than us, the sons of Elrond, and this was one of those times. 'We go not further than the border of Imladris, it is too dangerous.' The horse snorted, agreeing when it thought about it.

Legolas huffed, but was soon again smiling at the wind in his face and the whisperings of the trees, greeting him during his passage. What made them like him I would never know, for sure, but it mattered little. I would be only too happy when the spawn returned unto Mirkwood, and my brother and I could go back to hunting orcs again.

'Let us stop a while.' Legolas said. 'I would speak with the trees, they are so different from the ones at home.'

'Very well.' I nodded. Without a doubt the elfling had a strong connection with the woods. This was not so strange, since he is a wood-elf. What was strange was rather how the trees appeared to stretch to reach him. That, I had not seen before, and I have lived long time, and met many wood-elves before.

As Legolas sat down by one of the trees, he looked to be embraced by its bark, but when I blinked, everything was normal yet again.

'Did you see that?' Elrohir asked, doubt plain in his voice.

'Yes indeed I did.' I muttered. 'What is it with this elfling? This spawn from the dark side.'

I was smacked by my brother on my head, and I had to chuckle.

'However true that may seem, I would advice you never let Thranduil hear you say this. And with how the trees appear to love him, I would not put it past them to tattle on you.'

'I did not think.' I chuckled.

'Obviously not.' He muttered, but we froze when we heard the horses galloping away.

'No! Cerephin! Malen!' We cried.

'Worry not.' Legolas said behind us and we looked at him. 'They merely heard voices unexpected.'

'How do you know?'

'For I hear them also. And they make my head hurt.' He muttered the last part silently.

'I hear nothing.' I said, after straining my ears.

'Neither do I, but Elladan, if it hurts him… do you think it might be…?'

I knew what my brother was about to say, and nodded solemnly.

'Orcs, yes! But our horses have never run from it before.'

'I…' a small voice said and we turned to Legolas. 'I told them to run, for they were frightened. Had I not said it, they would have stayed.'

'You stupid, evil...' I began angrily but Elrohir shushed me and we could finally hear what Legolas had already. It was not many orcs; mayhap a company of four or five, but what they were doing here was impossible to say.

'Let us fight!' Elrohir said rashly, but I looked to Legolas. His eyes shone with hurt and fear and insecurity.

'I truly wish to agree, Elrohir, but…' I glanced pointedly at Legolas and my brother nodded, understanding immediately.

'We hide, then. Up in the tree.' He said and we hurried upwards, the branches seemingly closing beneath us, providing us with protection.

We sat there a long time before the orcs were directly below us, where they stopped. We all held our breaths, and I hoped desperately that Legolas would not somehow give our position away.

'We rest here.' One orc said in their horrid language, and Legolas shook in pain. It did not affect my brother and I in quite the same way as it did the full-blooded Elf, though we still felt it, deep in our minds. I pulled Legolas to me.

'Worry not. The pain will pass.' I said, silently, so the orcs would not hear me. But alas, the orcs continued their awful speech, and Legolas was growing ever paler.

'I'm sorry.' He whispered and I urged him on with an eyebrow raised in question. 'For telling the horses to leave.'

'You did not know.' I said, and realized that he truly did not know. His father had never let him leave Mirkwood before. The biggest danger in Legolas' life had always been the spiders of Mirkwood, and he had probably not even seen them, being kept inside the gates. He knew little of what existed in the outside world.

'Elladan.' Elrohir demanded my attention. 'They are climbing. We must fight.'

I listened to hear the truth of his words, and then heard, and felt, the tree rustling. Although we just barely felt it on our perch, the orcs definitely did, and they fell to the ground.

'Stay here, Legolas!' Elrohir said and jumped down, drawing his sword. I could only follow his lead and left Legolas in the tree.

The first four orcs went down easily, but the last one proved to be more of a challenge. Both Elrohir and I fought it valiantly, and I was starting to deliver a fatal blow when a flash of gold fell in front of me. I could not stay my hand, the force put behind too great. The sword went straight through the heart of the orc, though if orcs truly had hearts was debatable, but it also skewered Legolas' side.

He had been falling with speed, obviously unconscious, and some bad stroke of luck had placed the end of his side in the path of my strike. He fell to the ground, motionless even as the orc fell backwards.

'Legolas!' I cried in despair, consumed with guilt, both from myself and from the tree, which had been unable to stop his fall.

Elrohir had already sat down next to the fallen elfling and was tying his sword belt twice around the waist, applying pressure automatically.

'Make haste,' he said and rose with the elfling in his arms. 'We must make haste.'

We ran as fast as our legs could carry us, occasionally switching the small burden between us.

If was too long before we were by the Houses of Healing, although we had gone at the fastest pace possible. We crashed through the doors, immediately gaining the attention of all Healers.

'What happened?' Glorfindel asked, having made his way to the front and showed me where to lay my burden.

'Orcs.' Elrohir said before I had time to open my mouth.

Glorfindel undid the tourniquet made by my brother and narrowed his eyes when he noticed the wound. He immediately saw it was not the wound of an orc blade. But he said nothing, and stitched the prince together, before asking one of the other Healers to send word to Thranduil.

He had stormed in, not moments later, raging. His eyes immediately searched for his son and he went to feel the warmth of his skin before he turned on us.

'How can I again place my trust in the sons of Elrond?'

'Thranduil.' Elrond began in a slightly muted voice behind the king. Muted because he knew not why Legolas was at the Houses of Healing, but still speaking for he wished to hear no ill words of us.

'It is my fault.' I said. 'We went for a ride, and Legolas wished to stop by the trees, so we did. But before long, orcs came. Our horses had fled, and we hid in the tree. After a while, one of them began climbing, and we jumped down to fight. When all but one laid slain, Legolas fell from the tree just as I threw my final blow.' My voice hitched, but I forced myself to continue. 'It pierced Legolas as well as the orc.'

I saw Elrond close his eyes in sorrow, and Thranduil shouted in anger.

'Leave! Leave my son at once!' He cried.

'Ada.' A voice said, and we all turned to Legolas. He was pale from loss of blood, but in general, he seemed to be faring well.

'Ion-nîn.' Thranduil breathed and sat down by the bed of his son. The quick change in his demeanor surprised me greatly.

'Do not blame Elladan, father. I told the horses to run, for they were frightened of the orcs, making us unable to flee before they were upon us. Then, when they were fighting, I was climbing down, even though they had told me to stay. Their voices, ada, they hurt my head, and I think I fell.'

'Worry not, son.' He said and pulled an escaped tress of his son's hair behind his ear.

'Then do not blame Elladan or Elrohir. I was not being very nice to them.' He said, voice filled with such regret that Elrohir and I looked at each other in surprise.

Thranduil sighed.

'What have you been up to while we have been in meetings? I have heard whisperings, but only seen you chasing a horse in the council-room.'

Elrohir barely managed to keep his chuckles in, having to practically shove his fist into his mouth.

'Well… I guess we have the kitchen first. I found some ducklings outside, and they wanted to swim. But they thought the pond was too deep.'

'So… you flooded the kitchen?' Thranduil asked with remarkable patience that never previously would have been a word I would have used to describe the king.

'Yes. They thanked me.' Legolas chuckled and I could not avoid rolling my eyes.

'And where were Elladan and Elrohir during this?' He asked, making me frown.

'Well… they were going to the cellar to get me pastries. I promised to stay in the kitchen.' He muttered. Then, 'I kept my promise,' was added sullenly.

I could not avoid laughing, and was given a glare by my father, which only served to make me hold my laughter in.

'Then there was the horses…' he muttered. 'The foals wanted to play outside, so I let them out of the stables and told them it was okay. I did ask them to be back before dark.'

'And Elladan and Elrohir?'

'Were brushing Celephind and Malen.' He grinned.

I shook my head. The horses had just left us standing there with the brushes in the air. We had immediately known who the culprit was, but I had not heard his reasoning before. I guess that, in the mind of a thirteen-year-old elf, it made perfect sense to let all the horses go.

'And you were chasing one because…?' Thranduil asked, apparently starting to be quite amused by his son's stories.

'It wanted to play…' Legolas looked at his father innocently.

'I won't even ask.' Thranduil shook his head.

'They were trying to convince the horses to return.' Legolas chuckled. 'Then, it was the waterfall.'

'Ah, we noticed the lack of its regular sound yesterday. I had not thought it had anything to do with you.' He fixed his son with a stern gaze.

'Well…' Legolas took a deep breath. I really wanted to hear this one as well. I had thought he had merely done everything to cause trouble, but it seemed to be something deeper behind every story. 'There was a lizard…'

'A lizard?' Thranduil asked when it seemed that Legolas would not say anything more.

'It was trapped by the stone.' He muttered, looking into his hands in shame. 'So I removed the smallest stone, but then everything shifted, so I just grabbed the lizard and moved him out of the way. I didn't know the stones would fall into the waterfall.'

'Of course son, of course.' The king sighed.

'Elladan and Elrohir were standing just behind me.' He nodded proudly. 'They were watching the waterfall.'

Then he grew silent. He had not told his father the entire story, and it was apparent he did not want to.

'Legolas.' His father chided, knowing something was being withheld.

'I fell in. But Elladan pulled me up real quickly!' He hurried to explain the last part.

'He did save the lizard in fact.' I snorted. 'I just now realized he had had something in his hand. I believe he put it to the side when he felt the stones shift beneath him, also making it too late for him to jump away.' I shook my head. 'He was trapped with his leg under the rocks.'

'Elladaaan.' Legolas groaned, making me laugh again.

'You should always tell the truth, Legolas.' I chided, with a smile.

'I did.'

'A half-truth can also be considered a lie, Legolas.' Thranduil said and the boy pouted.

'Very well… any other adventures you have had that I have missed?'

'Nay.' Legolas smiled tiredly, concerning us all when his eyes fell closed in rest. But he had lost a lot of blood, and would need some time to recover.

The king turned towards us, and I cowered under his gaze. Even after two and a half millennia, the king was still entirely capable of intimidating me. It might have to do with the fact that he is taller than I. Or that he is a king. Or that he is still that twice my age. Or that he is a father. Possibly all combined.

'Elladan, Elrohir.' He said, with a surprisingly gentle voice. 'Do forgive my son his antics. He has not quite realized the reality of consequences yet, though he is kind of heart.'

I looked to my brother and we blinked at each other in shock as Thranduil and Elrond left the Houses of Healing, again leaving us to watch over Legolas.

'Spawn of Mordor indeed.' I laughed.