Of Siblings, Abductions, and War

A/N: This is a birthday story for my dear friend, LadyLindariel! I really hope you enjoy reading, mellon nín, and have a very happy day!

In this story, Nostariel is approximately fifteen human years - so 30-ish Elven years? *shrugs* I don't know!

Nostariel glanced furtively behind her as she put the last touch on her prank. Running the razor-sharp blade of her knife over the length of hithlain once more, she stood back and surveyed her handiwork. The rope lay innocently on the ground, and at a casual glance, one could not have told that it had been tampered with.

'Psst! Nostariel!'

The youngest daughter of Elrond and Celebrian looked up at the sound of her name, her oval-shaped face breaking into a grin. 'You're finally here, Arwen!' she whispered. 'I was beginning to worry I would have to do this without you.'

Arwen, Nostariel's elder sister, was standing on the opposite side of the bank of the Celebrant. Coal-black hair fell in rippling waves to her waist, and her grey eyes sparkled with girlish excitement. 'Throw an end over to me,' she commanded. 'I'll tie it on this side.'

Nostariel nodded hurriedly and obeyed. A moment later, she was working to tie her own end of the Elven rope around a nearby tree-trunk, while Arwen was mirroring her action across the river. Once they were both finished, the rigged rope bridge was stretched taut across the river, waiting for its victims.

'You had better go back now,' Arwen suggested, glancing somewhat-anxiously into the woods of Lothlórien. 'We don't want to be caught here unawares.'

Nostariel nodded happily, her silver curls bouncing in the breeze. 'You hide; I'll fetch the twins.' Dashing off into the forest, she ran on light feet until she found herself at the foot of her brothers' talan. 'Dan! Ro! I'm waiting!'

Unintelligible words were called in return, and Nostariel rolled her eyes. 'You'll have to repeat that, Elladan.'

A dark head appeared over the edge of the talan. 'I said that we are coming, muinthel,' the twin said again. 'Give us a moment to fetch our bows.' The head disappeared.

Nostariel hopped around in a wild dance of anticipation, but stopped the moment the twins neared the ladder. Leaning against the bole of the tree, she crossed her arms over her chest. 'You two are slower than a leg-less Mumak,' she criticized, though a grin tugged at her lips.

As Elladan and Elrohir sputtered in mock indignation, their sister danced away in the direction of the river. 'Arwen is coming too,' she called back. 'She is waiting across Celebrant, and I left my bow with her. Hurry up before she attempts to use it; she'll only end up breaking it!'

The twins snorted, amused. Nostariel was immensely proud of her archery skills, which had swiftly outshone her older sister's. Nevertheless, finding Nostariel's enthusiasm catching, they quickened their gaits and caught up to her.

Before long, they came to the edge of the wood. Celebrant lay before them, icy blue and sparkling, and, four or five feet above the water, was the rope bridge.

'Race you across the river!' Nostariel shouted, running forward.

'You may best Arwen when it comes to archery, but your legs are much shorter than ours,' Elrohir laughed. 'Now who is as slow as a leg-less mumak?'

Nostariel laughed in delight as the twins pulled ahead of her, competing between the two of them for the honour of reaching the far shore first. She watched gleefully as they ran onto the bridge at the same time, Elrohir managing to slip ahead of Elladan at the last moment.

Time seemed to slow for the next couple of moments. The twins' combined weight proved way too much for the weakened rope, and, right as the brothers were over the deepest area of the river, it snapped, dumping the two into the cold water.

The expressions on the twins' faces were priceless, Nostariel decided. Shock was frozen on both Elves as they hit the frigid river, but they swiftly returned to their senses, and identical heads popped back above the surface a moment later.

'You fell off!' Elladan spluttered to his brother, treading water and attempting to stop his teeth from chattering. It didn't work.

'I fell off, brother?!' Elrohir exclaimed. 'I think not! You slipped and pulled me after you, you clumsy –'

Elladan had been ready to retort, when he caught sight of one end of the rope flowing gently in the water, still securely tied to the tree-trunk. 'Hold on,' he interrupted his brother's rant. 'I believe that we have been... had.'

Turning around in the water – his body had by this time gone numb, and neither appeared to be in any particular hurry to exit the water – his grey gaze fell on his mirthful sister, who was now rolling around in the grass on the bank. 'You little weasel!' he shouted, striking out for shore. 'Come here and take your reckoning, you little minx!'

With a shriek of mock fear, Nostariel jumped to her feet, clapped her hands over her heart, and pretended to die. However, upon seeing her wrathful, dripping brother nearing the shore, she decided it was probably a good time to make an escape. Streaking off into the woods, she headed for her parents' talan, still giggling helplessly. She could clearly hear the sounds of pursuit coming steadily closer, and she made a weak effort to speed up.

It was no use. Cold arms grasped her around her middle and she felt herself lifted from the ground. 'Elladan!' she complained around her gasps for breath and the laughter than still bubbled up out of her. 'You are making me wet, Elladan. Put me down!'

'Am I, now?' her brother growled teasingly. 'Would you care to tell me who causedme to get wet in the first place?'

Nostariel hiccuped. 'El-Elrohir?'

'I doubt it, sister. I doubt it very highly. As a result of your treacherous behaviour towards your dearest brothers, who have only ever wished good upon you –'

Nostariel snorted.

'–Who have only ever wished good upon you,' Elladan repeated himself, turning around in preparation to return to the river. 'I am afraid that you must – Oh, Valar!'

Oh, Valar, indeed! Nostariel thought, upon seeing the stern countenances of her grandparents before them. 'Elladan is abducting me,' she said matter-of-factly. 'He is trying to throw me into the river. He claims it is my fault that he and Elrohir pulled each other in.'

'We did not pull each other in!' Elladan defended himself, eager to appear grievously wronged this time. 'Nostariel frayed the rope and tricked us onto it!' Summoning up his most heart-breaking pout, he observed his grandparents out of large, grey eyes.

'Nonsense,' Galadriel said swiftly. 'Nostariel, you are a terrible liar, child. Elladan, I am happy to see you get as good as you give. Now, is Elrohir sensible enough to be drying off, or is he drowning in the river still?'

'He's probably trying to kidnap Arwen,' Nostariel squeaked, trying to wriggle out of Elladan's wet grasp.

'I hope he is more successful than I was,' Elladan muttered, mostly in jest, before allowing his sister to escape. Meeting Nostariel's eyes as she slunk over to Celeborn's side, his own gaze clearly spelled a warning to the young miscreant: This is not over. You and I are officially at war, tithen muinthel. May the best Peredhel win.

Nostariel just smirked. If only her brother knew that this incident was merely one of a dozen prank ideas that she and Arwen had up their sleeves. 'Of course, brother,' she replied aloud. 'If you say so.'

Elladan huffed as his sister went off hand-in-hand with Galadriel and Celeborn. Unable to restrain himself, he put his hands on his hips and tilted his head to one side – his go-to Elladan-is-displeased stance.

'You're going down, Nostariel!'

A silvery laugh was his only reply.

The End

A/N: Happy birthday, Lin! I got to admit it, though: this story was written two hours before midnight, the day before your birthday. :P I guess I had to wait for the time-crunch before the right idea popped into my head! Hope you liked it! *hugs*

To all my other readers: Please drop me a review if you enjoyed it!