Chapter 1

Silent as a shadow the slender elf slipped through the trees, passing from one bough to the next with nary a rustle to show he was there. Feeling the quickened beating of his heart within his chest he revelled in the excitement of the hunt and picked up the pace when he caught sight of his prey in the distance, smiling to himself keenly. They did not know he was there yet, but soon, oh soon he would show himself, and then it could begin. He shivered in anticipation, reached for the twin knives strapped to the quiver on his back and curled his fingers around the ivory hilts, almost in a caress. He moved closer, watching the dark shapes as he noiselessly manoeuvred into position above them, savouring the moment as his heart fluttered ever more wildly in excited expectation.

As the tension building within him reached a thrilling peak the young warrior atop the tree tilted his head back, opened his mouth and emitted a wild howl to the sky before dropping down upon the dark creatures below in a lethal flurry of silver, gold and green. Blades sliced through corrupted flesh, with practised precision in moves designed to cause as much pain and suffering as possible as the elf twisted and turned, around and about his enemies. Mocking taunts and expletives spilled from lips seemingly too fair to utter such expressions as the uneven fight progressed and the enemies grew fewer and fewer. He began to slow, a slight hesitation before blocking the curved scimitar slicing towards his forearm, a faint pause before sidestepping the stab of a short sword meant to open his guts, almost as if willing his opposition to catch him out, wishing to feel the bite of steel upon pristine flesh. A teasing dance with death as his partner.

A hiss of pain and his lips turned up to smile into the face of the beast whose scimitar, now stained with the bright red of blood, had found its mark deeply within the elfs left shoulder.

"Hannon Le."

The sighed whisper caused a frown to crease the orcs ugly countenance before, with a flash of silver, the frown was dissected and the creature fell to the ground, pawing at its face and writhing in agony. For a moment the elf stood still, eyes closed, breathing deeply, feeling the wounds pain and allowing it to grow with a fierce need to feed off its intensity. Cumbersome movement to his left brought him back to the fight and dropping the knife from his now useless left hand he swung the remaining weapon round in a slicing arc with a force strong enough to split the newcomer in two at the waist. Following around to spin full circle he then raised the blade high, flipped it to change grip and falling to his knees, brought it, point down to stab through the heart of the beast still groaning at his feet. Swift as thought he was once more upright and smiling ferally as yet another of the foul beasts appeared before him and he invited it to attack.

"Legolas!"

An arrow whistled past the elfs head to embed itself between the eyes of the creature sneaking up behind him.

"Legolas!"

Another arrow pierced the chest of the enemy he was about to gut.

"LEGOLAS!"

The call of his name once more went unheeded as the whirling figure turned, long knife descending in a killing strike, to find himself staring into bright green eyes opened wide in terror and he felt the metallic jarring kiss as blade met blade.

Dark blue eyes narrowed in anger as, with a flick of the wrist, his opponent was disarmed, then glanced from side to side, seeking out the next, only to find none were left standing except the auburn haired elf before him and he snarled in frustration before his eyes glazed over and, with a blissful smile, he smoothly collapsed at the wood elfs feet.

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~o~

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The huddled figure shivered and pulled the edges of his well worn cloak closer together, trying to ignore the icy water sheeting down from the storm darkened sky. Muttering imprecations under his breath he pushed back against the hard, unforgiving surface behind him in a desperate attempt to gain shelter from the slim overhanging shelf above his head and wondered, not for the first time, just what he was doing there.

Fifteen years, had it been fifteen years? His mind wandered, forgetting the rain soaking through his clothes and into his core. Fifteen years since his life was turned upside down and all that he had believed to be true had proved a lie. He sighed, feeling again the confusion, pain and anger of betrayal that had caused him to run, like a startled deer, away from all he had known, after lashing out with angry words intended to wound as he had himself felt wounded. His heart lurched as he recalled once more the tirade that had tumbled from his lips, the look of pain in deep brown eyes before him and the beseeching cry of his name as he had ridden away without a backwards glance. Tears filled his eyes. Oh, how he longed to take it all back, to feel the strong arms of his father around him once more in a comforting embrace, hear the joyous tinkle of his brothers laughter as he fell foul of their wicked sense of humour, yet he could not. How could he after throwing everything they had done for him back in their faces with such contempt? Rain mingled with the tears, running down his face unhindered as he thought of home. Home. A fist gripped at his heart and twisted. He had no home now, that bridge had been well and truly burned, he would not be welcome there again, he could no longer call Imladris home. Thunder rolled through the air as the storm increased but the figure did not hear its call. Lost within his memories the weather battered the weary body without yet he heeded it not.

A sudden sharp prick of pain under his unshaven jaw brought awareness flooding back. A grimy hand tightened its grasp on the hilt of the sword he had lain in readiness across his legs in the event of trouble and steel grey eyes flew open to confront this latest foe, whilst inwardly cursing that he should let his guard down so far in his misery as to allow an enemy to get so close without warning.

"Caught off guard, Ranger?"

The low, musically lilting words accompanying the unwavering point of the blade at his throat made the young mans eyes widen in surprise and fear and his grip on the sword tightened as a second, night black apparelled figure stepped into view from behind that of the first and he found himself transfixed by identical darkly gleaming stares.

"Elladan, Elrohir." The young man tilted his head slightly in acknowledgement. "What brings you out on a night such as this, my lords?" He warily eyed the duo as the night was split by another bolt of lightening behind their heads, adding to the menace of their appearance.

"You, tithen muindor, little brother." Withdrawing the sword and replacing it in the scabbard at his side the eldest of the pair smiled, then, in tandem with his twin, squatted down to face the human. "You have led us on a merry dance Estel."

The man stiffened as he heard the elvish name, the memory of his perceived betrayal returning.

"My name is Aragorn," he forced out through teeth clenched both with anger and cold. "Estel was but a dream conjured by your father." The bitterness in his words was as much a surprise to himself as to the pair before him.

"Nay, not a dream but a reality bought of need," the rebuke in the softly spoken manner of the younger twins reply was apparent. "You know this in your heart muindor."

Elrohir moved to sit beside the young man, snaking an arm around his shoulder before pulling him in to place a chaste kiss upon his brow. Initially stiffening, Aragorn found himself drawn into the twins embrace, finally relaxing to rest his head upon the half elfs shoulder as he felt the unconditional love emanating from the one still naming him brothers touch. Tears began to trace their way down his cheeks and as the dam of his pent up emotions burst, they turned to great sobbing gulps, wracking his frame as his brother held him tightly, uttering soothing words and stroking his hair as if he were once again a child afraid of the monsters under his bed.

The twins shared a smile over the young mans head and, ignoring the rain still pouring down from the stormy sky, Elladan also lowered himself to sit beside his brothers and await the tempest within to calm.

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~o~

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"Ernillen!"

A small band of elven warriors gathered around the fallen prince and their captain, who was on his knees now, deft fingers exploring the unconscious form for injuries, forming a lethal barrier in case of further attack. It was never wise to relax ones guard within the once great forest since spiders, orcs and other dark creatures had made it their home.

Once satisfied that the single wound had been discovered and bound the auburn haired elf stood and, looking sadly down upon his friend and commander, sighed. This was becoming a regular occurrence and he was beginning to wonder if it was time to bring his concerns to the king. Bending down to lift the slight figure into his arms he marvelled again at how light the prince seemed to have become over the past few years, before straightening up and with a nod of the head, giving the order to move off, back to the safety of the halls once more.

"Haruon," jiggling the prince within his grip he turned to the warrior on his right. "Run ahead and warn the healers of our coming," he smiled as the elfs face fell. " If you are careful you can speak to Fearvel, without having to see the king." His understanding tone brought a small smile to the warriors lips.

"Aye, Captain"

It would be almost impossible to avoid Thranduil if he espied someone from his sons patrol returning but as Haruon jogged away he was already planning the most subtle way of gaining entry to the healers rooms without being spotted.

Wondering how the band of orcs had managed to get so close to the Halls and turning the problem of how to deal with the elf presently in his arms over in his mind, the Captain lead the small patrol silently through the forest and hoped that they had a peaceful journey back home.

A/N

Well, here we go again. I did say a sequel might be forthcoming and the plot bunnies just wouldn't let me be. This one is going to get somewhat darker than The Loss and I can't promise a happy ending at this stage but certainly will do my best. At the moment I have two endings written and it will very much depend on how the rest of the story develops as to which I use. That, and the fact that I have been a little lax with the timeline and Aragorn's running out of Imladris in a fit of pique is why I have labelled it AU.

As with The Loss, I shall aim to update weekly as although the first few couple of chapters are written already and the plot is generally set it remains very much a work in progress.

Sorry, to have gone on so much, I will stop now and just say Thanks for reading and of course...

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