Warning: some violence, gore, little bad language. There's an OC but not an important one.

Sorry for no warning last chapter and now I can't figure out how to go back and add the warning. If someone would like to tell me how I'd love that.

With their spirits lifted by the thought of finding at least of the patrol group alive they raced toward to river. Gimli tried hard to keep up with the elves, but he was a foot shorter and a mortal who had not slept since midnight the prior night. During the quest Legolas would sometimes take several nights watches in a row, and be just a chipper as ever. Gimli hated him for it before they began to get along more.

He found he was stumbling often and even fell flat on his face a few times. He was beginning to lose sight of the elves before him and wished to call out to them, but knew the dangers of too much noise in this forest. It still seem more like mirkwood than greenwood to me, he though glumly as the last of the elves disappeared from his view.

By this time Gimli's breath was coming in hard pants, he had yet again just fallen. Shitty ass trees and their fuckin' roots! He complained to himself as he picked himself up and tried to follow the path the other had taken. He did not even know if he was headed the right way, so he slowed to a walk to get a quick look around.

"Keep going, we don't want to lose the others!" The voice of the elf king demanded from behind him, causing Gimli to jump. He turned around quickly, but the el king grabbed his shoulders pointing him in the right way, and gave him a shove to get his going.

Gimli became worried that his last few thoughts had been grumblings instead of thoughts, for if they had the elf would have heard them. His worry for his friend quickly outweighed his fear of Thranduils wrath, and he quickened his pace as much as he could. As he ran he began to notice to burning in his side, and in his legs. "I should have stayed I shape." He panted under his breath.

Finally they came across the clearing; a fire was burning brightly, a deer thrown over it to cook. The search party was standing around a squirming pile in the center, the orcs lay in a pile all bound.

One of the other I the party walked up to the king, his head hung. Gimli looked up to the elf king, noticing he was holding his breath. "My lord." The elf bowed his head, pausing to find a way to fraise his next words. "He… he was not among them, nor did we find any sign of any elf having been around here and time soon. I think sir; I think we were lied to."

Thranduil sucked in a breath, and held it for a long moment. Gimli looked on at the elves with wide eyes, waiting desperately for one of then to speak again. When neither did he became inpatient, "Well what now!" He yelled to them both, though mostly as the king.

Thranduil hung his head more; the messenger rubbed his hands together nervously. When someone did speak it was from the group behind them, one of the ones Gimli had guessed was Legolas's friend. "Now… now we go home." He said, looking and sounding like it was the hardest thing he had ever said.

Thranduil put his hand on Gimlis arm, but he shrugged it off. "We give up? We leave the lad to suffer? He's hardly more than a boy!" Gimli scream to the elf king, who turned his back away from the group and headed away.

Gimli roughly grabbed the elf's wrist and yanked him towards him. "He's your son, how could you leave him? How can you give up so easily?" Gimli asked, his voice soft, his eyes trying to meet the gaze of Thranduils.

"He is lost." Thranduil yanked his arm from the dwarf, and turned back to look at the group. "We head to the keep, you all did very well. Thank you for your help." Then king turned his face to Gimli, "Go home, Dwarf." He said bitterly. As the elves walked past him he saw that many of them had tear in their eyes, the one who had spoken out had them all down his face.

He knelt by the fire looking in at it, Gimli came and sat beside him. "What do we do with the orcs?" He asked the elf, looking over to the pile of foul creatures.

The elf beside him gave a small laugh. "I'll lead you home." He said wiping the tears off his cheeks. He stood up and looked down as the orcs, "We leave them to starve, letting them smell the deer becoming well cooked, then burning before their hungry eyes." He said this as more of a threat to the orcs than as an answer to Gimli.

He started of away from the clearing, and turned to wait for his new companion. "I'm Advert." He said to the dwarf, who stood looking at the orcs.

"It seems almost wrong that we should let them suffer. Ya' know? Sink to their level." Gimli looked to the elf as he walked up to him, his eyes were grey, his hair a light blond, he was of thicker build than most elves, but still graceful him his movements.

"I see what you mean." He softly said, a hint of regret as the edge of his voice, as he knelt beside the pile and began cutting their necks. Gimli came besides him and took out his own dagger, his favorite one. The one Legolas had given to his for his birthday, no more than six months prior. He helped Advert end the orcs, by the time they had finished the blond was again on his knees crying softly.

Gimli wiped his dagger on the lower log of his brown legging. "I'm going to Gondor, not home. I know someone there who would be glad to help me find our friend." Advert looked up to the dwarf, a light smile on his tear covered face. "You in or out?" Gimli said with a knowing grin playing at the corners of his upturned mouth.

The elf came up to him, again wiping his face clean, his smile now wide. "I think I know where this is headed, lord Gimli."

By the next morning even Advert was growing tired, Gimli was beyond tired, but both held a cheerful demeanor a new hope in their hearts as they headed to the realm of men. To seek help for the elven prince from his longtime friend: The human king of Gondor and Anor.

Thank you to those who reviewed, and for the warning about my lack of warning. As i said above, if some one could tell me how to add a warning to a complete chapter I'd be happy like a clam.