Chapter Two:
But Elrond didn't answer. Looking around in dismay, the elves realized with a sickening jolt that they were missing someone- someone important.
"Oh, Valar," Glorfindel whispered hoarsely. "Where is he?"
Lord Elrond had fallen behind. He could run over snow just as any elf, but he did have to invest much more focus and energy into it. At first he could easily run with the rest of the patrol, but as the minutes slowly dragged by, his legs began to feel heavier. Stubborn determination prevented him from mentioning it, even though he was forced to fall behind some. None of the other elves observed this, for all of their attention was bent of finding the cave and getting there as quickly as possible. But the rapid pace was taking its toll unnoticed on one of their number. Once Elrond began to feel weary, the fatigue only grew steadily worse, and soon he caught himself wishing the others would slow. But his pride still stood in the way, and so Elrond said nothing.
At last the exertion became too much, and Elrond suddenly stumbled. He fell with a startled cry, and collapsed to his knees in the deep snow. Hastily as he could, Elrond struggled to his feet. He would have then resumed running, except he unexpectedly sank through the snow when he attempted to take a step. Shocked, he tried again, and nearly lost his balance. Lord Elrond had abruptly found himself over knee-deep in freezing cold snow.
"Glorfindel!" Elrond shouted in fear, only for his voice to be lost to the wind. No one answered, and looking around himself all Elrond could see was an ever-shifting wall of white. Feeling as he'd been struck, blind panic set in.
"Glorfindel!" The half-elf was almost beyond frantic now, and he desperately plowed his way through the snow in the general direction he thought they must have went. Elrond screamed the names of the elves in his patrol over and over again, but the only answer forthcoming that he could hear was the lonely and menacing howl of the wind.
Elrond had long known that his sight and hearing, while many times sharper than those of even the most alert of humans, could still not match those of the full-blooded elves. This had never mattered before. But now, stumbling and confused in the midst of the worst blizzard he had ever experienced, he cursed that weakness fiercely. He could see nothing, could barely hear anything, and now he was so badly disoriented he hadn't the faintest idea which direction he was going.
Elrond would never be able to remember how long he forced his way through the snow. It felt like it must have been hours, but there is no way to know how accurate that was. Finally Elrond came to a halt, not out of choice but from sheer exhaustion. Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered that he did not feel well. The cold was slowly invading through the inadequate cloak he had unwisely chosen to wear, and it had already stolen the feeling from his fingers and toes. Elrond's ears and face stung, for they were almost completely unprotected. Elrond hurriedly pulled his hood up, and wondered why he had not done so before. The numbness was spreading and the increasing chill was quickly sapping his strength.
Never mind the cave and the others, he had to find a makeshift shelter of some sort, or he would not last. Though he was loath to admit his human weakness, it was obvious he could not resist the cold nearly as long as a normal elf might, even if he was wearing proper snow gear- which he wasn't.
Blinking furiously, Elrond thought he could barely catch a glimpse of the dark forms of trees ahead. Forcing his tired limbs to move, Elrond practically dragged himself in that direction.
When at last he reached the foot of the first tree, Elrond leaned against its trunk gratefully for a moment. From what he could tell, blinded as he was, the tree must have been truly ancient. It was tall and wide, and its bark was thick and gnarled. Positioning himself on the west side of the tree, so as to shield against the wind, Elrond weakly sank to the ground and curled up tightly.
He was completely untrained when it came to wilderness survival, something he now deeply regretted as foolish. He simply did not know what to do. Should he keep moving, to avoid freezing to death? Should he stay put? Whatever he should have done, the choice was no longer left to Elrond. He slipped slowly from consciousness.
Glorfindel shut his eyes and took several deep breaths as he struggled to think rationally. Finally he opened them and addressed the anxious patrol surrounding him.
"We must look for Elrond- but not all of us. Who among you has the sharpest vision?"
"That would Caranor," one of the elves answered. Another stout young elf (what had possessed him to bring so many young elves on such an ill-fated patrol?) stepped forward. Glorfindel barely glanced the elf over before nodding.
"Caranor and I will go search for Lord Elrond," he said. "The rest of you, stay here. Build a fire, and keep watch. If we don't return soon- whatever you do, do not come after us, understand? When the storm lets up enough, head for Rivendell immediately."
When Glorfindel was assured that the others knew what to do, he and Caranor ventured back out into the raging blizzard. As they set forth, Glorfindel prayed to each and every one of the Valar, save Mandos. He grimly though that it would not be a very good idea to pray to that particular Vala right now.
Glorfindel had been the one to drag Elrond out on their patrol. And even worse, he had let his friend go missing when it was his duty to protect the Elf Lord always. If this proved to be the death of Elrond… Forcing the despairing thoughts from his mind, Glorfindel poured all of his concentration and resolve into one thing. They had to find Lord Elrond, before it was too late.
A/N: I could lie and say I'm sorry about all the cliffhangers… except I'm not. I hope you all brought elven rope, because you're going to need it a lot before this story is over.
There will be NO SLASH in this story. The rating might go down later on, but it depends.
I know it's awesome that I'm updating this fic in only one day, but don't expect it to happen again anytime soon. I'm a busy person, and I don't get to write as often as I would like. Still, I can promise that I'll at least try to update frequently.
I've got a complete outline for this story, but I really have no idea how long it will be. When I sit down to write, plots tend to go places I never expected.