Estel gasped as he felt his foot slip and stayed motionless for a moment before resuming his ascent. He could hear the elflings laughing below him as he struggled up the tree he had been dared to climb.
"He's going to fall. I know it! Humans can't climb trees!" he heard one say as the others continued shouting up their own taunts.
Estel gritted his teeth together and pulled himself up another few feet. He had been on his way home for supper when the group of elflings had literally appeared out of nowhere and blocked his path. Though he had tried to look defiant, he had felt his heart sinking at the sight of them. Estel had never been completely accepted as the only human in Imladris, but this particular group seemed to be worse than the rest of them.
Of course, this wasn't the first time this kind of thing had happened, but it seemed Estel still hadn't learned how to ignore their taunts. He had considered going to his father or the twins about it, but had immediately decided against it. He couldn't go running to his Ada every time he had a slight problem—he was nearly 13 after all!
Estel risked a glance down and immediately regretted it. He was so high up—he shuddered to think what his father or brothers would say if they came across him at this moment.
"What's the matter, human? Scared?" he heard the one he had identified as the ring leader shout out.
Estel looked at the sky and knew he didn't have much more time before Ada sent one of his brother s out to fetch him for supper. Enough was enough. Estel pulled himself up onto the branch he'd been gripping and used the trunk to steady himself as he slowly made his way into a standing position.
As he was contemplating how to best make his way down, the branch he was standing on apparently decided that his human weight was too much to compensate for. Estel heard a deafening cracking noise and looked down in horror as he realized what it was—but it was too late. He felt himself falling through air as his back connected with every possible branch on the way down, and finally after what seemed like forever but was in reality only a few seconds, there was a sickening crack as his body made connection with the hard ground.
Estel struggled to draw air into his suddenly uncooperative lungs with no success, and as his vision darkened around him he thought he could hear the voices of the elflings above him.
"Oh no. Galalith! We've killed him. This is all your fault!" one said.
"Quiet! We don't know that he's dead!"
"What do we do?"
"There's nothing we can do! We can't be caught here! We have to leave!"
"But—"
"No! Do you have any idea what will happen to us if Lord Elrond knows we were responsible for hurting him? We have to leave. Now go!"
And with that, Estel finally lost his hard fought battle with consciousness and everything went black.
With some difficulty, Estel slowly managed to pry his eyes opened, only to feel a moment of panic as he realized it was nearly dark out.
Oh no! Ada will be so angry!
Estel quickly sat up, only to gasp as his vision temporarily went dark and he realized that really wasn't such a good idea in his current condition.
Ugh. I feel almost as bad as that time Elrohir convinced me to jump from the tree into the lake—and missed!
Trees….trees…..trees! Estel inhaled sharply as the memories of what had happened rushed back to him. He realized he must not have been unconscious too long, though supper was probably nearly over. Estel was surprised his father hadn't sent his brothers out to find him—maybe he had decided Estel had been late for supper far too often lately.
Trying to ignore the increased pounding in his head and the rest of his body that was screaming in protest, Estel slowly rose into a standing position, taking care to keep his weight off of his right leg. After he had gathered his wits somewhat, he gingerly took a step—only to cry out and nearly fall over as his injured ankle exploded in pain.
I can do this. I was only a few minutes from home when Galalith's group stopped me anyway!
It seemed to take a lifetime, but fifteen grueling minutes later, Estel had could see the front gates in front of him. Not wanting to make a big scene, Estel used a secret way through the gates his brother's had shown him once. They swore no one besides them three—and Legolas—knew it was there, though Estel found that hard to believe.
Why does this kind of thing always happen to me?!
Ten long minutes later, Estel finally found himself at the top of the stairs and paused for a minute to ride out the wave of pain his actions had awoken in his injuries. His breathing finally back to normal, he slipped through the doors and, as quietly as possible with a broken ankle, started up the familiar route to the family quarters, the pain in his ankle growing more unbearable with each second.
Estel would later blame it on his concussed head, but, lost in thought, he failed to notice he was nearing the dining hall in which the rest of his family was currently residing. As he passed, the doors were suddenly thrown open and the sight of a very familiar face caused Estel to freeze in place. The younger twin seemed to be angry about something, most likely whatever it was that caused his rather abrupt exit from the dining hall. As Elrohir's footsteps faded into the distance, Estel released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, relieved he hadn't been discovered.
"Late again, are we, penneth?"
The voice from behind him caused him to spin around faster than he would've thought possible in his current state, only to come face to face with the not so amused face of Glorfindel .
So much for that. I'll never get away now. I'll be lucky if Glorfindel doesn't take one look at my face and drag me straight to Ada!
Keeping his head down in a last desperate attempt to prevent Glorfindel from noticing anything, all hopes of a quiet night in bed flew out the window as Glorfindel continued speaking.
"You know, you really shouldn't worry your father like this. And your brothers! When your father wouldn't let them come out and look for you themselves, they were ready to send out a search party! Really, Estel, you are old enough now that you really should be able to….Estel? Are you all right?"
During Glorfindel's lecture, the room had begun swaying slightly for Estel, causing him to grab onto the wall for support as he waited for his vision to refocus.
When Estel refused to answer, Glorfindel narrowed his eyes and said, "Well, I've tried. I suppose I'd better leave the rest to your father."
At this, Estel's head shot up in panic, which he soon realized was a mistake as the room tilted dangerously and his world momentarily went dark. He felt himself falling and prepared himself for imminent contact with the hard floor, only to feel strong arms catch him at the last second and lower him to the floor. As his head began to clear, he thought he could hear voices speaking to him, and he stuggled to understand what they were saying.
"…stel?...hear me….penneth?"
He heard the voice shouting something, though it seemed to be directed at someone else, then heard the sound of footsteps hurrying away from them.
Estel opened his eyes to see the slightly blurry face of Glorfindel, which looked to be a mixture of worry, concern, and….fear? That can't be right. Glorfindel wasn't afraid of anything! He had slayed a balrog after all!
Just as he had opened his mouth to make an attempt at voicing his thoughts, he heard the unmistakable sound of running footsteps, and his heart sank. There was only one person in this entire palace—well, ok, two—who would run through the halls in such an improper manner. Said person had just crashed to his knees at Estel's side, causing Estel to wince inwardly. He was sure that would cause some pretty nice bruises later.
"Estel!" he heard the anguished cry of his brother. "Oh, what have you done this time, tithen gwador?"
Estel turned his head slightly toward the voice's source, and was dismayed to find that, with his blurred vision, he could not tell which of the twins he was speaking to. He had not confused the twins since he was three!
Finally hazarding a guess, Estel tried to speak, but was surprised at how raspy and weak his voice sounded.
"Elladan?" he croaked, and seeing his brother's frown deepen, he could have hit himself. It was Elrohir then.
"Nay, little brother, it is I, Elrohir. Stay awake Estel, Ada will be here soon!"
As if on cue, footsteps could be heard, somehow managing to sound hurried yet dignified at the same time—a far cry from Elrohir's panicked running moments before.
Estel sensed more than saw the small crowd that had gathered around them part as the elf lord rushed to his son's side.
"Ada?" Estel croaked, struggling to keep his eyes open.
"Yes, Estel, I am here", Elrond said, stroking his son gently on the forehead as he did a visual sweep for any obvious injuries. His eyes finally fixed on the long, no longer bleeding gash on Estel's forehead and the very dark, colorful bruise that was starting to surround it.
"I need you to stay awake for me, my son, and tell me where you hurt."
"Head hur's. N' my an'le", Estel managed to slur out, though he could feel his eyes closing against his will.
"Estel? Estel! Stay awake! You cannot sleep yet!" he heard his father say.
"M' sorry Ada. M' so tire'", he tried to say, though he doubted anyone could understand much of what he was trying to say anymore as it came out as more of a mumble.
He could hear his father's along with Elrohir's voice shouting, pleading with him, but he could not understand what they were saying as he gave a final sigh and allowed himself to sink into the welcoming oblivion.
