Trapped under his foster father's critical eye, Aragorn wanted nothing more in that moment than to run and hide, yet he forced himself to stand tall and face his fears. His eyes held a fierce determination and his chin rose defiantly as he met Lord Elrond's gaze.
After what seemed like an eternity, Lord Elrond's eyes softened slightly and he nodded almost imperceptibly at Aragorn. The soft murmurings could again be heard as Lord Elrond continued down the corridor with the other elf, deep in conversation.
Strider gazed after him for a time, then shook his head slightly as if to clear it. He entered his room, where he briskly and efficiently began to unpack his few belongings.
"How long are you planning to stay?" Elrohir asked from the doorway.
"We shall see. A few days perhaps."
The twins protested at his words-
"But it's been so long since we last saw you! You must stay longer!"
"A week at the very least!"
"You need time to rest before traveling again- otherwise you'll spend more time on the road than you did at home!"
Aragorn sighed. They really were impossible sometimes. He tried to reason with Elrohir, the last one to speak, "The fact that it takes so long to travel just means that I will have to leave sooner to get back to the Rangers. I was not planning on leaving them for that long."
"The Rangers will be just fine- they survived quite nicely before you came along didn't they?" Elladan sagely pointed out.
"True, but still. If I do not return within a certain time frame they may begin to worry. These days it is not safe to travel alone."
"And yet you do it anyways. Come brother! If we do not get you for very long, let us as least enjoy the time that we do have!" And with that, Elrohir disappeared from the room.
Elladan smirked at Aragorn. "I suppose he wants us to follow him."
"I suppose he does."
The two of them sat thoughtfully for a moment before Elrohir's voice floated back towards them "Before I grow old, brothers!"
The two of them looked at each other and, sighing in resignation, headed off to see what Elrohir had in store for them.
The three of them passed most of the day together, talking and catching up on all that had happened during the time they had spent apart. Elladan and Elrohir regaled Aragorn with comical tales of their many adventures in Imladris and patrols of the surrounding area. More story than one ended with one elf or another cursing the day that they met the twins. While Aragorn was loathe to tell the twins the gory details of his time with the Rangers, he did have a few amusing stories to share with them about some of the men he commanded.
The twins were in the middle of a particularly enthralling tale involving Lord Glorfindel, a gecko, some raspberry jam, and a carefully placed pile of blankets.
"Oh, you should have seen his face Estel!" Elladan was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his face.
"He'll never eat scones again!" Elrohir was in a similar state, helplessly clutching his sides.
Aragorn was also lost in laughter, trying to picture the normally dignified elf lord in such an uncharacteristic state.
"Ahem."
Aragorn and the twins whipped around.
Lord Elrond had appeared behind them silently and was staring patiently, one eyebrow quirked quizzically at the scene in front of him.
"Father! It's... good... to see you" Elladan choked out.
"None of you attended dinner, so I thought I might come check on you. It appears my concern was misplaced- perhaps I should be checking on Lord Glorfindel instead?" Lord Elrond's face was impossibly smooth.
"Ah. Yes. Well. We just wanted to keep Estel informed of the events that occurred while he was away?" Something about his father's sudden appearance made Elrohir's normally diplomatic tongue go dry.
"Indeed. Well I can see he is in good hands. How was the long journey here Estel?" Lord Elrond asked rather pointedly.
"It was taxing. Very taxing. Perhaps I should retire for the evening?" Aragorn tried to guess what Lord Elrond was hinting at.
"That may be best. We wouldn't want to keep anyone up with your late night chatter, now would we?"
Elladan couldn't resist a small jibe "Indeed. We were just talking about how much our human brother needs all the rest he can get! Since he does not plan on staying that long, he should get it while he can."
Aragorn glared at Elladan before addressing Elrond "Actually, my lord, I was hoping to discuss a rather important matter with you this evening."
Elrond inclined his head "Let us adjourn to my study, we can discuss it more at length in there."
Aragorn nodded his assent and continued after the elven lord into the study while Elladan and Elrohir trailed behind, uninvited.
Once they arrived, Lord Elrond sat behind his desk and addressed Aragorn "What is this matter that is so important?"
Aragorn took one of the chairs across from the desk, while while the twins took up positions leaning against the wall near the door.
Aragorn shifted in his seat, feeling claustrophobic all of a sudden and not quite sure where to begin "As I was on my way here, I came across a party of Orcs near to-"
"Orcs!? Tell me you did not engage them in battle Estel!"
Elladan's concern was touching, yet unnecessary, reflected Aragorn "No, I did not. I simply encountered their tracks. It was a hunting party, no more than 20-30."
"It is not unusual to see Orcs about these parts- their presence is increasing throughout Middle-earth. It is concerning as a whole, but I fail to see the importance of one particular hunting party." Lord Elrond was inspecting one of the papers on his desk as he spoke.
"Indeed it would not be of importance, however I encountered their tracks after I had crossed the Bruinen. I do not think that they will be able to find their way down into the valley itself, but from what I read of their tracks that is what they are after. Never before have I seen Orcs use deliberate patterns to search for something, yet I can find no other explanation for the trail that I discovered. Not only that, but they appeared to be trying to evade notice by the elven guards."
Lord Elrond raised his head to look at his former ward. "This is concerning news indeed, then. We will need to investigate the matter. Can you locate the tracks again?"
"Father!" Elladan protested "You cannot send Estel out to chase after orcs after he has only just arrived! Have someone else look for them!"
Lord Elrond steepled his fingers together on the desk and tilted his head to look at Elladan "I cannot? How interesting. It would seem to me that he is the best person to do so as he was the one to find the trail in the first place. His skill as a tracker will be quite useful in this investigation."
Aragorn interjected "Yes, it should be relatively easy to do so. Once I find their trail, I can follow them for a time to see if there is a larger plan at work here."
"Excellent. The sooner we get this matter taken care of, the better. Can you leave tomorrow?"
"Yes, that should be fine." Aragorn stood and moved towards the door "I suppose this human should get some rest then." This last comment was directed none too subtly at Elladan, who wasn't listening.
"We're coming with you."
"Excuse me?" Aragorn couldn't say he was entirely surprised at this turn of events. "You don't need to protect me any longer, you know. I've been on my own plenty, and this won't take long. I'll be back in a few days."
"That may be, in which case we-" Elladan gestured to himself and Elrohir "-will also be back in few days."
"Think of it as brotherly bonding time!" Elrohir appeared to be in support of Elladan's new idea "Since you do not deign to visit us often, we wish to spend this rare time actually with you."
Aragorn remain standing with his arms crossed, unconvinced.
"Besides" scoffed Elrohir "Humans and hunting- if we don't go with you, how will you ever succeed?"
Aragorn opened his mouth no respond with a no doubt incredibly witty retort, but was interrupted when Lord Elrond raised his hand, palm out.
"Peace. I think it is a good idea for the two of you to accompany him. However-" His gaze penetrated each and ever one of them "You must promise me that none of you, under any circumstances, will engage the orcs in battle. You are only to gather information concerning their whereabouts and plans, and report back."
"Of course, Father!"
Elrond reflected that their nods of agreement and wide eyed, innocent looks were not altogether encouraging.
I hope everyone enjoyed this new chapter! If you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know
Marchwriter- Thanks for the welcome! I reread those sections of the Hobbit and FOTR that you mentioned, and tried to include more information about the location of the orcs in relation to Imladris in this chapter. Hopefully this helped give more context? I still left it a bit vague, but may include more details later on.
NCISElf- Haha he does tend to lurk in this story! I hope I haven't written him too strict! I'm glad you like the story though :)
Viresse- Thanks! haha I had fun writing those parts! And now they're going on an orc-hunting trip together, so there will be plenty more opportunities for brotherly banter :)