The morning call of the birds woke the human. Estel sat up abruptly, not aware of where he was and why he was there. From the dying embers of last night's fire, a thin trail of smoke drifted towards the lightening sky above his head. Looking rapidly around him, the young human gauged that he was still lost in the forest alone, much to his consternated disappointment. He sighed, thinking, At least I am still alive.
Brushing the grass and dew off his tunic, Estel tied his sword back to his thigh with its leather thong, grumbling under his breath, "And at least there will still be rabbit left for breakfast, even if I have to fight the ants for it."
Reaching for the spit, the Adan's hand paused in midair, his eyes growing wide with alarm. No meat remained on the thin limb. An animal has stolen my breakfast, he thought, but then chided himself, which serves me right, since I stole it from a stranger!
Amused despite his growling belly, Estel searched for signs of the thief as he sat on the grass, recalling the twins' instructions about identifying footprints. There were no clear footprints in the dew laden grass around him, and whatever animal might have wished to eat the cooked rabbit could have found the unsuspecting human beside it a much better meal, he realized sheepishly.
He came back for his dinner, the human suddenly thought of the traveler from the night before, and was horrified at the idea that he had been sleeping while an unknown being had been nearby. In the dark night, hungry and scared, it had seemed his only option to approach the stranger, but now, in the rising sunlight's illumination, the young human saw how foolish he had been.
I am lost in the woods with someone whose dinner I stole. Estel snorted with bitter enjoyment of his predicament, thinking, Elladan and Elrohir will not be surprised to hear this story.
Rising to his feet, Estel kicked the rocks and ashes of the fire, extinguishing the embers. With that done, the human glanced around the grass to see if he had left anything, though he had nothing to leave behind. He had lost his bedroll several days ago, and his water skin he had misplaced. All he had with him were the clothes he wore and his short sword, which was barely more than a glorified kitchen knife. He had been taught how to use a blade made for battle, but he had not been given his own yet. Lord Glorfindel had not deemed him ready for combat, and the commander's opinion was highly valued by the already overprotective Lord of Imladris.
Although a child, he was no fool. Estel could not fathom how he had become lost in the first place – finding one's way back to Imladris was the very first lesson the twins had ever taught the human about traveling. Putting the rising sun to his back, Estel left the clearing, ignoring his thirst and trying to remember the two Elven Lords' words.
It is no use, he thought to himself. I have walked west for the last few days. I will never find home.
He walked through the morning, occasionally singing softly to keep himself company. Despite the otherwise tranquil forest, Estel felt as though he were being followed, as though some presence were watching him. He peered behind each tree as he passed it and would quiet at the slightest sound within the woods, but the silence bothered him more than the noises, and so he would begin to sing again. His thirst grew with the temperature, causing his own temperature to rise and his thirst to worsen even more as he could not seem to stay cool. Around him, the birds sang happily and the midsummer flowers brushed his stocking legs as he walked drudgingly through the intermittent clearings in the forest.
He had the sneaking suspicion that he may have walked right past Imladris, and told himself jokingly, If I keep walking west, I will end up in the Grey Havens! Entering a grove of oak trees, the human slowed his pace, eager to stay in the shade although unwilling to stop moving.
"Will you be quiet?" he told his growling stomach, rubbing the tunic over his belly as though to pacify his hunger pangs. Soft laughter caused the young human to stop mid-step, while fear crept over him; the hair on his arms and neck stood on end.
"I did not imagine that," Estel asserted, still speaking absently to his rumbling belly. The soft laughter erupted from the tree branch overhead of him, startling the Adan and causing him to jump backwards. He stumbled over a fallen tree trunk on the ground behind him, tumbled over its side, and landed on his back, his feet in the air, with a painful thwack. More joyous, mirthful laughter came from the tree above him, and the young human merely stared up into the branches, too stunned to move. He was not afraid, but merely surprised. He did not think that anyone of such a merry nature would want to harm him; however, the mysterious stranger's laughter stopped abruptly, and the eerie silence of the forest fell upon Estel.
"You could come out, you know," he told the trees, not sure if the enigmatic presence was still there.
The Adan sat up, pulling his long legs under him: he had not yet grown into his body and always seemed to be falling down. I have the grace of a newborn foal, Estel snorted to himself. Putting his back against the fallen trunk, the human folded his legs and crossed his arms over his chest.
"I am sorry I ate your dinner," he added a bit more loudly, just in case the stranger had taken off through the trees.
Tapping his fingers in frustration against his upper arm, the human wondered who was in the woods with him. I am sure it is an Elf. No other creature with such a cheerful deportment could stalk me so easily from the trees. As his belly let loose another irritated growl, the young human moaned in aggravation. He was tired of being lost, he was tired of being hungry, and he did not feel up to playing games. He knew it was not the twins or one of the Imladrian warriors who had been laughing, for if it had been, Estel would be on his way back to Rivendell already, likely hogtied to the back of a horse. Why would this Elf not come out? the human thought, trying to ignore the gnawing, cross grumbles of his stomach.
Estel started once more when the laughter began afresh, this time closer to him than before. He looked up just in time to catch a flash of green before it fell into his lap. Startled, the human gasped but did not have time to move before the object hit him. Disbelieving his eyes, the Adan reached out to touch the package that had rained from the sky above him to land perfectly on his bent knee: it was a leaf-wrapped wafer of lembas. Ripping the leaf in his hungry rush to eat the waybread, Estel broke off a piece and nearly shoved it into his mouth before he stopped, inspecting the bread with suspicion. Sniffing the bread gingerly, the human broke off a much smaller piece and chewed it slowly, tasting it for toxin, although the very smell of the Elven bread made his mouth water and his belly clench in anticipation of being filled.
The joyous laughter resumed, but this time, an equally merry voice asked him, "Are you afraid I will poison you, Master Human? You are very picky for one whose stomach growls so loudly."
Estel blushed and wiped the sweat off his brow. The noontime sun reflected the glossy green leaves above him, and he told the trees and the stranger hidden within, "I mean no offense. I am wary to trust someone I cannot see, however," he hinted, eating a larger piece of the lembas as if in good will.
The leaves above him rustled. "What if I scare you away? Have you not heard the tales your people tell of the Wood-Elves?"
A Wood-Elf! Estel scrambled to stand in his excitement, forgetting the lembas in his lap and letting it fall to the grassy forest floor.
"I do not know what tales they tell," he explained, walking circles around the tree to search its great limbs for the bodiless voice, "but I have heard stories from Lord Elrond."
"You know the Lord of Imladris, Master Human?"
Just when the Adan youth thought he had seen a glimpse of blond hair above him, the sun shifted behind a cloud and the telltale golden shine was gone. He stared where he had seen it, waiting for movement, but none came.
"I am a guest in his home," Estel explained, wary to reveal to the stranger too much. He had never met an Elf who was not trustworthy, but then, his experience with Elves was limited to only his adoptive father's people. Wood-Elves he had only heard about, and he did not know if the strange stories were true or not.
Remembering his dire circumstances despite his excitement to meet the elusive woodland Elda, the Adan added, "I am trying to find my way back to Rivendell, Master Wood-Elf. Do you happen to know which way it lies?" Estel shoved the piece of lembas he held in his hand into his mouth and promptly began to choke on the dry bread. A bladder of water fell from the tree to his right, landing softly in a tuft of grass. The human seized the water, washing the dry crumbs of the waybread from his mouth before he thanked the stranger, "Hannon le."
Behind him came the barely audible thud of something hitting the ground. Estel whirled around, nearly losing his balance in his hurry to see what the stranger had dropped next, but it was no thing that had fallen. On the log that the human had tripped over earlier perched an Elf clad in a brown cloak and dark green leggings. Beneath the hood pulled down over the stranger's head was a bright smile on a pale face framed by two long, blond braids. The Wood-Elf roosted on the log and replied, "You are welcome, Master Human." Estel stared in unabashed curiosity at the stranger. "And yes, I know where Rivendell lies."