Wow! Thank you all for reading and your support! :D Just a little note, Elladan and Elrohir may end up making a much larger appearance than I intended. Also when it comes to a different character's view or a different part, I will do some sort of a line break. I do apologize, my use of Estel and Aragorn will be random. I hope that's not confusing. :) I hope you guys enjoy.

Oh! Also this story will NOT be SLASH, only brotherly love is intended. Take it how you will.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these lovely characters no matter how much I try. This all goes to Tolkien.

The Warning

Elrond Peredhil was quietly humming to himself as he made his way down the hall to breakfast. It seemed as if the whole house of Elrond was alive and cheerful today. Prince Legolas had arrived late last night to see his adopted son Estel, and the twins had come home even later from their hunting trip. All-in-all it made for a wonderful morning for the friends to wake up and find that they all were in the same place at the same time. However, that also meant dedicates would not be safe for a while. He would have to talk to Raniver about putting up most of the ancient artifacts.

As Elrond was musing over all of the poor items in danger's way, he heard a dish crash against the floor in the dining hall. Too late for that one... he thought to himself as he opened the door to expect the worse. He stopped in the doorway and took in the site that greeted him. Elladan was wrestling with Aragorn on the floor, a little to close to the table for his liking. He now knew what caused the death to the poor plate. On the other side of the room Elrohir had Legolas backed up to a wall with his hands out in an apparent truth offering he supposed.

Legolas seemed to notice Elrond had walked in and he quickly put down his arms and shot a glare at Elrohir. The twin whipped around, his eyes widening at the site of his father. "Elladan." the twin hissed. At the sound of his name Elladan and Estel both froze staring up with horror at their father in the door.

Elrond mustered up the 'Elrond eyebrows' as his boys liked to call it, and looked at them all with an upset frown. All four of the friends lowered their heads and looked at the floor expecting a lecture. Elrond could not hold the look as long as he intended and instead broke out in laughter. "You all are how old and you still manage to act like a troupe of elflings?" He kept laughing. It was good to have them all back home. They were all his sons, even Legolas had become a son to him, and he had missed the rambunctious young ones when the house was quiet.

"I won't even ask who started it this time," as he said that Legolas, Elladan, and Elrohir all switched a glare to Estel. "but I will ask that you try and keep the house in one piece." Elrond moved over to the table and grabbed a few pieces of fruit. "If you'll excuse me I do have some business to attend to this morning. Please stay out of trouble." With that, Elrond winked at the four who were standing in shock, and left the room humming once again to himself.

Once they had gotten out of their shocked state, Elladan was the first to move. He roughly smacked Estel on the back of the head and proceded to stand. "If you dare mention the snow dare again, Elrohir and I will tear you both apart!" He said as he began to advance on the human still on the floor.

"Hey! When did I automatically get paired with the ranger!" Legolas burst out as Elrohir and him moved over to where the other two were.

"Whenever you decided it was just as funny as he did." Elrohir chipped in from beside Legolas.

Estel started laughing again, unable to contain it, "Well whenever you decide to take a dare based on the absolute fact that frozen objects and moisture don't-"

"Estel!" Elladan boomed and grappled his youngest brother once again. They began wrestling as Legolas burst out in laughter at the thought of the twins frozen to a tree by their tongues. It had been quite the site to see and Elrond's face was priceless when he saw his two sons had managed to freeze themselves to a tree.

"Well maybe we should talk about the time you and Estel managed to irritate all the geese-" Before Elrohir could finish his sentence Legolas had tackled him to the floor. Laughter filtered from the dining hall throughout the entire house of Elrond. Nothing could ruin this moment, Elrond thought to himself, but how so wrong he was.

BLOODRITUAL

The old man staggered and fell again. Pain had engulfed his mind long ago and he had no idea where his feet were taking him. Blood ran down his bare skin and his cloak was soaked in it. He could not tell if it was day or night, or if he was even alive. All he knew was that somehow he kept going. Kowan rose to his feet one last time to try and stagger on to the woods he saw ahead. But that was when his body had reached its limits. Kowan collapsed face-first into the ground, red soaking the grass around him.

He had no idea where his feet had led him, he only remembered when that retched blue man had turned on him. The old man shuddered with the thought of what the man had done to him. He found himself no longer caring for youth, only caring for the pain to go away.

Kowan was only half-aware of the gentle hands rolling him onto his back and the gentle words being spoken.

"Oh, no. This doesn't look good. We need to get him to Ada and fast." Elladan said as he turned to his twin. Elrohir nodded as Elladan gently picked up the old man. He could already feel the blood staining his own tunic.

"But what about Estel and Legolas? They won't know that we have stopped the hunt?" Elrohir asked the older twin. The four had decided in order to decide who's situation was the most ridiculous, that they would go out and see who could hunt the most game in the day's light.

Elladan nodded at this, but then looked up to the tree canopy above them. "I think Legolas will know soon..." He said as he trudged forward. The twins could already hear the leaves rustling above them.

BLOODRITUAL

"How could they beat us Legolas?" Aragorn said laughing as he once again picked up another hare taken down by his own bow. Legolas laughed at that.

"You may be right Estel, with your superb tracking and my bowman-ship, we may be the dream team yet." Both were normally humble about their skills, but together and against the pesky twins, they thought they deserved some bragging rights.

Around midday the two stopped to rest at the foot of a large oak tree. Hunting had been quite plentiful and they had no doubt in their mind who the winners were going to be. Aragorn had closed his eyes contently, listening to the sounds of Legolas fidgeting with his bag and the wind blowing through the trees. It was so nice to be home. He realized that Legolas had stopped making noise so he slowly opened his eyes.

Legolas was next to a tree with his eyes close and his hand resting on the rough bark. Aragorn knew what was going on so he quietly got up and went over by his friend. "Legolas, what is it?"

After a few moments Legolas opened his eyes and took his hand off the tree to grip Aragorn's shoulder. "We have a problem friend. Elrohir and Elladan are going back to Rivendell."

Aragorn frowned at that. "Did they tell you what happened?"

"No... but they do speak of death!" Legolas hissed as he grabbed his back and shouldered it. They both gave each other a knowing glance and took off sprinting back to Rivendell.

BLOODRITUAL

The blue had stopped shrouding the man almost entirely. He had to finish the ritual and soon. Dulin stared intently at the weathered map he held in his hands. For thousands of years he had been locked away in this forsaken cave, and he had some wrath to dish out. That fool that had awakened him had served his purpose well.

Dulin grinned evilly as he thought of what he did to Kowan. He hoped he had chosen the destination wisely. The gem on his neck glowed as he closed his eyes to see the scene. The old man seemed to be in the hands of another, gentle hands... immortal hands. His grin widened as he moved the old man's head to see his rescuer. An elf with dark hair was above him, quickly moving with speed to a destination he hoped was the center of Rivendell.

The gem he had placed inside the old man had done its job well. He had full control of his actions and voice, or so he hoped. Just a little bit longer and his ritual would be in affect. Middle Earth would pay with his revenge. That he promised.

Yay! Second chapter done! I'm trying to update almost everyday. I will either do it during the day or at night depending when I work. :)I apologize for grammar mistakes.

I did take some author power here and decide that tongues could stick to frozen trees though I highly doubt that is possible. Lol. Don't worry, we'll be getting into the thick of the plot here soon. ;P

I hope you all enjoyed it! I'd love to see some reviews!

Love LamaraLily