A/N: Cyber cookies for Amazing Bluie for the review. I recognize that some may not have read the last chapter yet because of Rosh Hashanah, but I'd like to thank him for his review. As always, I appreciate all reviews.

No, we are not going to show the general's dreams, but as for Vlad's plans... you'll just have to wait and see.

About the mistake... good catch. It wasn't a typo as much as it was a misplaced modifier. It has been duly corrected.

Thanks to everyone for reading. Enjoy!

Chapter 9: Second Day... Suspicions

Disclaimer: I do not own either Danny Phantom or The Lord of the Rings.

The following morning, Vlad came outside to sit in the courtyard to study the people coming in and out of the valley. Sitting by a fountain, he watched the humans and elves passing him. A large number of elves tended to give him a wide berth for some odd reason. Even their horses seemed nervous, which seriously disturbed Vlad.

The majority of the humans he saw had black hair down to their shoulders. These were mostly clean-shaven, those who looked old enough to do so. There were also a small number of shorter men, who wore full beards, and had deep, rumbling voices. These, like the ones he'd seen on his way into the valley, wore heavy chain mail, and carried large battleaxes when they initially arrived or were on their way out. Those who had settled in had their beards braided and their long hair unbound, and they wore no mail.

Vlad was fascinated by the various interactions. The tall humans and the shorter men got along fairly well. The elves seemed to like the tall humans as well. But the elves and the shorter men were cool towards each other at best. At worst, their attitudes towards each other were frigid. What was going on here? He would have to ask Glorfindel later.

He noticed a group of children running out to the gardens and decided to follow them. As they played, Vlad caught sight of an archery field and saw a group of teenaged boys carrying bows nearly as tall as themselves. He decided to watch as they lined up fifty feet away from the line of targets. Elrond's sons soon arrived and the lesson began.

These boys, while close in age to Daniel, were taller and more muscular than the young halfa. They had clearly been training with weapons for a couple of years, already. Each boy took it in turns to draw his bow, nock an arrow, aim, and fire at a target. As each boy aimed, one of the twins would correct his stance or aim before ordering the release. Some still strained at holding the position for a long period of time. The rest of the class would cheer at each successful shot and jeer at a missed shot. These last usually garnered a withering glance or chiding lecture from one of the twins, which resulted in the boys looking rather chastened.

Watching the lesson, Vlad began to feel frustrated. He could have trained Daniel so well in all manners. He had come so close to it with the imperfect girl clone, but still... Daniel. Daniel had caused him a lot of trouble, but it was all still a waste.

He muttered to himself, "I could have done as well training Daniel to use his powers. He could have developed his powers faster and more efficiently than doing it alone has. So much potential, wasted. Unfortunately, the girl Danielle was the closest I was able to come to having Daniel as my son. Still, I think the boy could have been convinced to join me if I could only have found a way to convince him of just how much of an idiot his father is."

The twins had noticed Vlad's interest in the archery lesson, and Elrohir was not happy about it. He kept a close eye on him, not certain why he felt such a strong dislike for the man. His father had told him of Vlad's secret, but had not told him much else. Elrohir felt uncomfortable with Vlad's interest in the children, though his only reason was the strange sense of evil he'd been aware of since they'd met him.

Vlad started muttering to himself in that strange language, looking as though he was staring at a vision of something only he could see. Curious about this man, he asked his brother, "Elladan, can you take care of the rest of this lesson?" His twin noticed him looking at Vlad and nodded. Elrohir moved to the edge of the archery field to study Vlad. Elladan continued the lesson.

As Elrohir looked at the man, he considered what he knew of him. He was half-spirit, which his father had not explained. The elven twin didn't trust this man, especially around children. For some reason, Vlad being around children felt wrong. Aranarth's advisory council also appeared uneasy around him, especially his brothers and his general, Voronwë. There appeared to be a lot of tension arising from their meeting the previous afternoon.

Vlad noticed the disapproving glare and raised an eyebrow. The twin shook his head, but continued to glare at the man. Vlad simply shrugged his shoulders and left. This was something else he needed to ask Glorfindel about. The elves usually avoided him, giving him vague looks of distrust, but this twin actually seemed to strongly dislike him. Yet, he hadn't done anything to warrant such feelings.


At lunch, Vlad once again sat with Glorfindel. He asked, "Glorfindel, I'm curious: there were several groups of short, bearded men and they didn't seem to get along with any of the elves. Why is that?"

Glorfindel turned to look at him and answered, "They are not Men, Vlad. They are Dwarves, another Race of Middle-earth. Elves and Dwarves do not get along well. There have been several events that caused the relationship to cool, but the most recent occurred nearly four thousand years ago. Dwarves do not easily forgive, and neither do Elves. Rivendell will allow any to enter who have need, so we are still in contact with most of the Dwarven realms. Others are less willing to have any such contact." Glorfindel didn't go into detail.

Vlad could tell there was more to this story, but if Glorfindel wasn't willing to tell it, he probably wasn't going to get any farther with it. But Glorfindel's own cool attitude towards himself brought him to his next question. "There's something else I wanted to talk about. Why is it that most of the elves are avoiding me?"

Glorfindel's expression was unreadable. "Has anyone done aught to make you feel unwelcome?"

Vlad sighed. "Not exactly. But while I was watching an archery lesson this morning, one of Elrond's sons was watching me quite closely. I got the distinct impression he strongly disliked me."

Glorfindel considered his answer carefully. "Elves have a very close connection to the natural world. We have the ability to sense another being's nature in a way that is difficult to explain. In you, many of us feel a sense of danger of a kind we do not normally see in Men. This feeling of danger goes very deep, and some may see it as a warning against close association."

Disconcerted, Vlad shook his head. That explained some of it, but it still didn't explain why one of Elrond's sons would see such a problem with him watching the boys' archery lesson. He seriously seemed to dislike Vlad, though his twin seemed less bothered by the man's presence. Still, their being aware of the danger he posed as an evil half-ghost provided a reason for the elves' reluctance to be near him for very long. The billionaire was disturbed at the level of perception they possessed, but he could work around it.

The meeting with Aranarth and his council that afternoon made little progress. They were still having some difficulty with Vlad's battle plan. Glorfindel brought Elrond's opinion: that the plan was effective, but the Elves of Rivendell would recommend that traditional rules of engagement be followed. It would still work if the gap between the North Downs and the Weather Hills were left open for escape. Orcs rarely took the opportunity to escape, anyway. It was not their way to flee a battlefield. They fought until either they or their foe was dead.

Still, the council made no final decision. Prince Aranarth awaited the messenger bird from Lindon with the responses from Círdan and Prince Eärnur. The other men were divided as to whether Vlad's plan should be accepted in its entirety or altered to fit their own sense of fair play. All in all, it came close to degenerating into an argument again. Vlad left feeling annoyed and put out.

That night, Vlad had another session overshadowing Voronwë's dreams. The problems of convincing Aranarth to accept his battle plan had encouraged the halfa to proceed with his scheme of the evening before. It looked to be the only way he could get the prince to agree with him. Otherwise, it was all out the window, and he would have less of a chance to gain the prince's confidence.