Chapter two

Amidst the sound of booming thunder and pounding rain, the sound of light footsteps pacing up and down the length of the room could be heard. Behind the barrier of the balcony doors and within the safety of his chambers, Thranduil Elf king winced as he watched the rain fall heavily from the night skies to the ground below. Somewhere out there, his tiny elfling was making his home journey after visiting 'Uncle' Elrond in Rivendell.

Another ominous boom filled the sky and Thranduil closed his eyes in worry. Legolas was too young to be out in a storm like this. He was still too young to understand that the loud sounds in the skies would cause him no harm, and as long as he stayed inside, then the flashes of light could actually be quite pretty.

He could recall the last time there was a storm like this. He had been woken in the middle of the night by a tiny bundle wrapped up tightly in a blanket catapulting itself into his bed next to him; burrowing under the blankets to press up against him.

He had then groggily looked down to see his little baby elfling shaking violently with fear and large pitiful tears streaming down his cheeks. With another crack of thunder, the elfling squeaked miserably and buried his face into his Ada's chest.

"Please, Ada! Don't let the monsters get me!" He sobbed.

There was another crash and Thranduil suddenly felt something warm and wet seeping into the fabric of his leggings. His sleepy mind puzzled over the odd feeling for a moment before realizing that his baby had wet himself in his fright. With a tired yet sympathetic sigh, he got up out of bed with his little elfling trembling in his arms. He then quickly changed his and Legolas' clothes before calling in a sleepy eyed maid to change the sheets on his bed.

He spent a good portion of the night just pacing around in his chambers, while gently bouncing his child in his arms, and whispering soft words into his tiny ears. Legolas kept his face hidden in Thranduil's broad chest and his hands fisted in his Ada's hair.

Eventually though, the elfling tired himself out, and Thranduil was able to then carefully lie back down in bed with his elfling snuggled up against his chest, and his hair still fisted in the child's hands. He didn't mind though. So long as his elfling felt safe with his Ada.

Now though- in the present- his elfling was too far away for him to protect. He just had to hope and trust that Aurgell and the other elves that made up the princes' escort were keeping him safe and calm throughout the storm.

He wasn't expecting his son to be home for at least another two days, but now with this storm, it could easily be three days before he saw his beloved child again.

"Wherever you may be my son, I pray to the Valar to keep you safe," he whispered, as he watched another flash of lightning illuminate the sky.

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Fonter woke up bright and early as he always did and glanced over at his still sleeping wife. He smiled broadly at the sight and landed a quick peck on her cheek before rolling out of bed and getting dressed for the day.

He entered the next room, and frowned as he saw the elfling sleeping fitfully of the couch. He then quietly padded over to him and carefully sat down next to him, debating whether or not he should wake the child, and how to wake him if he should chose that course of action.

However, he was saved from making a decision as his wife stumbled sleepily out of their room. She quickly analyzed the situation before speaking with a great yawn. "Let the poor thing sleep for as long as he would like. The sleep would do 'im some good, I'd recon."

He nodded, and then went outside to do some early morning chores before breakfast. The child stayed asleep until he woke to the smell of cooking meat. He yawned widely and rubbed a tiny fist over his eyes to help clear them of sleep.

Erima glanced over at him from her place at the stove, alerted to his state of wakefulness by the small sounds of his stirring. She smiled at the sight of him; all sleepy eyed and hair sticking out in odd directions. She stayed where she was, waiting to see how he would react to his new environment, and hoping that by acting calm and casual, that he too would stay calm.

He blinked a few times in confusion then his eyes widened in fear as a startled gasp passed over his lips. He pulled the blankets closer to himself and scrunched down into them as his eyes darted around the unfamiliar room. Erima stayed calm and collected, continuing to cook and allowing the child to look around without the 'threat' of her hovering over him.

His eyes eventually landed on her as she carried on with her morning activities of cooking, cleaning, and setting the table. She glanced over at him and smiled as his eyes briefly met her's, before he ducked back down to hide in his sheets.

Eventually though, she knew that she had to check on his wound.

Well, now is as good as a time then any. She thought, as she finished setting the table.

She then cooled down some hot water so that it wouldn't burn the child, then set a clean rag over the side of the bowl. She glanced back at him again to see him carefully peeking over his blankets at her.

With a gentle smile gracing her lips, she slowly walked across the room towards him.

"Good morning, Honey. I just wanna take a quick peek at your little head again. No need to be scared," she cooed, as she made her way over to him. He squeaked fearfully and dove back under the blankets.

She gave another pitting laugh before sitting next to him on the couch. With a soft touch, she pulled the blankets away just enough to get to his head. He kept his face hidden as she gently removed the old bandage and cleaned his head once again before redressing it.

"You're such a brave boy," she praised, just as Fonter re entered the home after doing his morning chores.

He smiled as he saw his wife attending to the child he had found. "I see he's awake now. How's he doin'?" he asked as he hung his cloak back up by the door.

"He's still a bit on the skittish side, but head looks really good," she replied. With that, she gently yet firmly scooped him up in her arms and walked him over to one of the spots at the table. He squawked upon being picked up, but remained statue still in her arms. She then sat him down in one of the chairs while Fonter sat down in the chair across from him.

Erima then dished up three plates with the food she had prepared, setting them down at the table before taking her spot next to the child.

"Thank you, Darling. This looks great," Fonter praised, before digging into his sausage and eggs.

She smiled at him before glancing over at the elfling to see how he was fairing. He was eyeing the food wearily and made no move to touch it. She frowned, but decided to give him a couple minutes before addressing the issue. She ate her own food and glanced back at the child after several minutes, only to discover that there was no change in his demeanor.

"Fonter, he's not eatin'," she worried, as the child fidgeted nervously in his seat.

The man looked up across the table at the child to see that indeed, the child was not even touching his food.

"Just give 'im some time. All children eat when they get hungry enough," he dismissed, as he finished his own food.

She nodded a bit uncertainly, but didn't argue. After the meal, she cleared away the two empty plates along with the child's full one before sitting back down.

"So. What are we goin' do with 'im?" she asked, as she glanced down at the shifting child.

Fonter gave a long sigh, as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not entirely sure to be honest, but I kind of have an idea. Now, it's too dangerous for us to try and take 'im back into the forest ourselves. We don't got warriors in our village, we've only got farmers. But the Rangers always stop by every spring. I know spring is a long time off, but if we keep 'im till then, then we can ask the Rangers to take 'im home, or at least go and tell the elves that we have one of their youngins, and they can send a patrol out to pick 'im up."

She nodded thoughtfully, considering the idea. "It seems like that could work, but he needs to get used to us if he's gonna stay all winter long," She said.

He nodded once before standing up. "It's a plan then, unless we can figure something else out."

He walked back over to the door and slung his cloak over his shoulders, preparing to go back out again, but paused when his wife called to him.

"You should take 'im out with you. The fresh air migh' do 'im some good," She said, as she rummaged around in a wooden chest and pulled out one of their son's old cloaks. She quickly slipped it onto the elfling and looked him over with a critical eye. The cloak was far too big for him, and would drag on the ground behind him, but for now it would do.

Fonter shrugged and stepped out the door then stood to the side, waving for the child to follow him. With a gentle nudge from Erima, the elfling slid down from his chair and took one hesitant step towards the door. When nothing happened, he took a couple more. He glanced over his shoulder once at her, before looking back at the door and slinking towards it. He reminded her a lot of a wary cat, crouching low and slowly stalking his way across the floor.

He finally reached the door, and glanced up at Fonter as he walked past him outside. Fonter smiled down at the boy before waving to his wife and closing the door. He smiled again and reached down to ruffle the boy's hair, just as he used to do to his own son. The elfing ducked fearfully under the man's hand before bolting towards the wooden bridge.

He berated himself for the careless move and dashed after the child before he could get himself lost in the woods. With his longer stride he quickly caught up to the boy and grabbed his little wrist in his large hand.

The elfling pulled desperately on his captured arm, twisting violently in the unyielding grasp, before going limp as children do.

"Come on. None of that now. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare ya. Calm down now." Yet, despite his efforts to sooth the child, it seemed that his talking only made the situation worse. He knew that the elfling probably didn't understand a word he was saying, but he had hoped that by keeping his tone of voice calm that at least part of the meaning would carry through.

Thinking quickly, he tried to come up with something that would calm the terrified child. Finally an idea struck.

"Do you like horsies?" he asked the squirming child. "I know that Wood elves like all kinds of animals, so I would bet that you do," he continued, as he gently lifted the struggling mass into his arms.

He quickly walked into the barn and over to his horse's stall. The tall chestnut colored stallion leaned over the gate to his stall and looked curiously at the tiny creature his master was holding. He took an immediate liking to the small fearful creature, and snorted an affectionate puff of air into the creature's face.

The elfling immediately looked up at the proud stallion as he felt the light puff of air. He immediately stopped struggling as he watched the great beast above him.

The horse's ears perked forwards and he leaned further down to gently lip at the child's hair. To Fonter's great relief, the elfling gave a small hesitant smile, and then a true giggle as the horse gently butted his muzzle against the child's forehead.

Fonter then cautiously set the elfling down as the child reached up to gently pet the stallion's velvety nose. The horse lowered his head obligingly to allow the child to pet him, before straightening and shaking his mane in a showy manner.

The child stepped back a bit, but again laughed at the horse's antics. Fonter too gave a light chuckle, revealed that the elfling was finally calming down.

He stood there for a few minutes, but the child seemed more than happy to stand there and pet his new friend. With the child distracted, he went about doing his chores, always careful to keep an eye on the child.

Eventually the stallion got bored with the child and turned away to nibble on his hay. The elfling seemed a bit put out by this, as he tried to call the horse back to him, and was promptly ignored. He sighed in disappointment, and turned to find something else to do.

Fonter glanced over at him, watching him carefully and getting ready to chase after the child if he decided to run again. As it was though, the elfling only walked to the back of the barn where he had heard some chickens clucking around. He watched in amusement as the child clucked back at the chickens, mimicking their sound almost perfectly, and holding his tiny hand out to them.

After only a moment, one of the friendlier chickens strutted up to him and cocked her head at him while clucking softly.

Fonter chuckled softly deep in his throat, as he continued with his work. Finally after several hours of work, Erima stuck her head out the door and called that lunch was ready.

He sighed in relief as he felt his belly rumble in hunger. He also knew that the child had to be hungry, having not eaten breakfast, and more than likely he probably didn't have any supper the other night. However, he hated to interrupt the child's play. He just seemed so comfortable and relaxed playing with the animals and in the hay.

He gave a reluctant sigh and walked over. He noticed an immediate change in the child as he approached. The elfling's eyes latched onto him and his whole body tensed, ready to spring. He held up his hands in a peaceful gesture to the child, before waving for him to follow. He waited a few minutes hoping that the child would freely follow him back to the house, but gave up a bit on that hope when the elfling remained rooted to his spot. He tried to call the child over to him a few more times before giving up with a reluctant sigh.

He walked over to the once again skittish child, and tried again to coax him into walking to the house with a gently nudge to his shoulder. The child only shrinked away from his touch before scampering away a couple passes.

He sighed a bit in irritation. "You're not gonna make this easy for me, are you?" He asked, knowing full well that he wouldn't get a response.

He again approached the child, only this time he went to pick the boy up and carry him to the house. He was starting to get tired of tiptoeing around the child. He swiftly reached down and snatched the child around the waist before he had the chance to try and duck away from the grab. The elfling gave a terrified shriek before immediately pushing against Fonter's broad chest.

"Oh, stop that! I'm not hurtin' ya!" he reprimanded, before wincing at his own tone. He didn't intend to sound so harsh, and immediately regretted it when the elfling froze with tears welling up in his eyes.

"No no, don't cry. Sshh. I'm sorry. That wasn't very nice of me. Sshh. It's alrigh'. Sshh," he tried to sooth.

The elfling gave one defiant sniffle, before going completely quiet and still; terrified of invoking the man's wrath.

He gave a regretful sigh as he saw the extent of the fear he instilled into the child, but there was nothing he could do about it at that moment, so he simply went to the house. Maybe the child would calm down when he had some food his belly. He could hear the slight rumble of the child's empty stomach; a testament to his earlier suspicions.

He made his way into the house, careful to make sure that the door latched behind him. He then gently set the elfling back down in his seat at the table and removed both of their cloaks.

Erima gave the both of them a warm smile as they entered the house, before dishing up three plates and setting them at the table. Fonter went back to his seat across from the elfling after hanging up the cloaks by the door.

"Thank ya, Love. This looks tasty," Fonter complimented, as he immediately tucked into his meat and potatoes.

Erima smiled at the compliment, as she too began to eat. After a while Fonter glanced across the table at the elfling only to see that once again, the food was ignored. He frowned at this discovery. He knew for a fact that the child was hungry. Even now he could hear small gurgles coming from the child's tummy, so it completely baffled him that the elfling wouldn't eat.

Erima looked over as well; her brow creasing in concern. "Maybe there's somethin' the matter with his throat?" she suggested.

Fonter shook his head. "I don't reckon so. He was talkin' to the animals just fine in the barn. Let's give him tomorrow to start eatin' on his own. I'm sure he will once he gets hungry enough," he dismissed as finished the food on his plate.

She frowned as she watched the child fidget in his seat. "I suppose. I'd hate to force the poor thing to do anythin'. We would just scare 'im even more. He can't be any older than about what, four or five? This can't be easy for 'im, not knowing where he is or what we're sayin', but he should drink somethin' at the very least. I don't want 'im to get dehydrated," she said.

The elfling's eyes darted nervously back and forth between the two while they talked. He could tell that he was the subject of their talk, even though he couldn't tell what they were saying about him.

Fonter considered what she said for a moment, before turning back to her. "Jus' have some water sitting out for 'im to drink when he feels like it. He'll drink eventually."

She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. The elfling squeaked and ducked underneath the table while Fonter and Erima cast a glance at each other.

"It's probably Beraddes. He said he migh' bring his son over to say 'ello," Fonter said, as he went over to answer.

Sure enough, once he swung the door open, a little boy with a shaggy mop of brownish red hair darted inside and glued himself to Fonter's left leg in a fierce hug.

"Hi, Unc Wonter," the boy squealed, as he tipped his head back to flash a wide smile up at the man.

Of course, Fonter wasn't really the boy's uncle; it was just that he and Beraddes were so close as friends, that many considered them as brothers. Fonter returned the boy's smile, and reached down to affectionately ruffle the boy's hair.

"It's good to see ya too Roy," he said, before turning his attention to Beraddes who was still standing in front of the door outside.

With a warm smile in place, he stepped to the side and motioned for the man to enter.

"Hey Fonter. How's the little tyke doing?" he asked as he removed his son's cloak as well as his own and hung them up next to Fonter's.

"Well… To put 'im in one word. He's skittish. Very skittish," he replied with a small laugh.

Beraddes took a quick glance around the room before turning back to his friend.

"Where's he anyway?" he asked upon not being able to spot the elfling in the room.

"He's hidin' under the table. The knocking scared 'im," he explained, with a vague gesture in the elfling's direction.

Roy laughed in delight as he noticed the other child peeking out from under the table cloth. He then skipped over and threw himself to his knees right in front of the other boy.

"Hi. My name is woy. What's your name?" he asked excitedly.

There weren't many young children in the village, so Roy was rather short on playmates and eager to make new friends, no matter whom or what they were.

The elfling watched this new little human in curiosity, and much to the relief of the adults in the room, he didn't seem too spooked by Roy's sudden appearance.

"What's your name?" Roy again tried to coax a name out of the other child who simply blinked at him uncomprehendingly.

"He's an elf, son. He only speaks elf talk, so he doesn't understand what you're sayin'. But you do ask a good question. What is the boy's name?" Beraddes said, while sending a curious glance towards Fonter and Erima.

The couple glanced at each other questionably before looking back.

"To be honest, we didn't even think about that," Eima replied, before shooting a curious glance at the elfling that was now starting to climb out from under the table to get a better look at Roy.

"Well, it's not like we can ask 'im," Fonter defended, as he too looked at the child.

"We can certainly try though," Beraddes smiled, before sitting down on the floor himself, beside his son.

The elfling shrank back a bit from the man, but quickly calmed down when he saw Roy try to sit in the man's lap.

"Roy," Beraddes said in a clear and firm voice, as he patted the top of his son's head.

He was careful to make eye contact with the child as he repeated the gesture along with Roy's name a few more times. The elfling cocked his head curiously and looked between the man and boy a few times before comprehension hit and his eyes widened.

"Roy," he said, as he pointed a finger at the boy.

"Yes! Roy! Good job elfling!" he praised, while making his voice lighter, as well as smiling widely so that his words could only be interpreted as praise.

The elfling hesitantly returned the smile; seaming to warm up to this new man that the human child, Roy seemed to think highly of.

"Beraddes," the man then said, while placing a hand on his chest.

The child's smile widened as he started to warm up to this new fun game. He pointed a finger at the man before repeating his name back to him. The man, Beraddes, then pointed over to the woman while saying her name.

"Erma," the child said, before frowning as he realized that it didn't sound like the way the man said the name; yet as he tried again to say the name, he just couldn't make the right sounds. He quickly forgot his disappointment though when he received praise from both the man in front of him and the woman.

Beraddes then pointed to the last man and said his name. The elfling stumbled over the name slightly, and beraddes repeated it again but slower so that it would be easier to pronounce.

Once the child had said the name correctly, Beraddes then decided to test the elfing, and pointed to his son.

"Roy!" the child said, causing Roy to clap his hands in delight.

He then pointed to Fonter, Erima, and himself, while the elfling named them perfectly; with the exception of Erima, whose name he couldn't pronounce. He then pointed to the child himself, and waited.

The elfling looked at him quizzically for a moment before comprehension once again lit up his eyes.

He placed his tiny hand over his heart and spoke clearly for them all to hear.

"Nín eneth Legolas."

TBC

Translation:

Nín eneth Legolas - My name is Legolas. (I added the 'is' because I couldn't find a translation for 'is')

Thanks to all of you who reviewed, liked, or favorited this story. I was not expecting this story to be as popular as it is. I was greatly encouraged and motivated my all of your support.

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