A/N: There I am again, gone so long that I don't remember this place's little formatting tricks. Well, I'll figure I guess. This is short, so next one should be up tomorrow or Monday.

Chapter 12: To the Lion's Den

The sun stood high in the sky already. Elladan and Elrohir were standing in the shade of a tree beside their horses, while Aragorn was pacing restlessly. 'Just where could they be?' he mumbled, more to himself than to the twins. 'They should have been here hours ago.'

Elrohir sighed. 'I can think of two possibilities,' he said darkly. 'And neither of them makes me very happy.'

Elladan nodded. They all knew what his brother meant. 'We've been waiting long enough now,' he said impatiently. 'We have to go find them, and soon!'

The other two agreed quietly and mounted their horses. Elladan was right. If their friends were in trouble, of which the three were pretty sure they were, they'd better not linger any longer.

They rode off in the direction Legolas and Gaerfin had taken the day before, once again searching their surroundings with all their senses. Every now and then they whistled, imitating the cry of a bird as a signal often used by elven warriors. But they heard no answer.

It had already begun to get dark when finally they heard something. 'Horses,' Elrohir whispered. 'Two horses, and they're coming nearer.'

'Maybe it's them,' his twin gave back quietly. He whistled again, but there still was no answer.

'Apparently not,' Aragorn stated and slowly aimed an arrow in the direction where the hoof beats were coming from. His brothers did the same, and quietly they waited for whom they would face.

But when the first of the horses came into sight, they immediately lowered their weapons.

'Ruinóriel!' Aragorn called in surprise. It was Legolas' grey mare, and she was riderless. Gaerfin's roan horse followed close behind, he too bearing no rider.

Elrohir slid off his own mount and slowly walked towards the two horses, speaking softly to them. Ruinóriel nickered nervously, but let herself be soothed by the elf's quiet voice.

After a while Elrohir turned to his brothers. 'They're gone,' he said softly. 'They left their horses behind, but they didn't return. The men have taken them with them.'

Aragorn buried his face in his hands. 'Oh, no,' he moaned. 'Not again.' Valar knew what they were doing to them at that place.

'What can we do now?' Elrohir asked, looking at his brothers, still stroking the two horses.

'We have to get message to Rivendell or Mirkwood,' Elladan said. 'Now that we know where they are, we have to call for help. We won't be able to help our friends on our own.'

'But that would take more than two weeks! We don't have the time, muindor nîn!'

'Do you have a better idea, Elrohir? We can't get them out there alone.'

'No, we can't indeed,' Aragorn said calmly. 'But perhaps I can try to keep those men from doing stupid things while you go to get help.' The twins stared at him.

'What-' Elladan began, but then understood his human brother's intention. 'Oh no, you won't go there, too!'

'That's the best way of keeping things under control that we have,' Aragorn stated. 'They'll believe I'm one of them. I'll be alright, muindyr nîn.'

Elladan shook his head. 'You can't go there alone, Estel. I'll come with you.'

'No you won't! Elladan, you're an elf!'

'I'm only three-quarters elven. And they don't have to know, do they? One of us is enough to call for help.'

'But…' Elrohir began.

'No buts, muindor,' Elladan said. 'You'll go to get help for us.'

Elrohir and Aragorn both sighed. 'Alright,' the human finally said. 'Elrohir, you will ride to Rivendell to call for help. And Elladan, you can come with me, but then you'll do as I say.'

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'I what?'

Aragorn stifled a laugh at the look on his brother's face. 'You look much too neat,' he repeated with a barely concealed grin. The glare Elladan gave him made him laugh despite the gravity of the situation.

Elrohir had left them a short while ago and taken the horses with them, as Aragorn had said that horses without saddles and reins would be suspicious. They wouldn't need them anyway.

Now Aragorn was trying to make his brother look at least a little more human. He had, after a while of searching, found a piece of cloth in his pack that Elladan now wore as a headband to conceal his pointed ears.

'We have to do something about your hair,' Aragorn explained now, still grinning lightly. 'No average human of their sort would wear it bound so tidily.'

Elladan shrugged. 'Fine. What do you want me to change?'

'First, undo those braids,' Aragorn advised. While his brother obeyed, he stepped behind him and began to work on his hair.

'What exactly are you doing there, Estel?' Elladan asked suspiciously.

'Oh, I'm just rearranging your hair style a little bit,' came the slightly amused answer.

'Estel, this is not funny.' Aragorn chuckled and finished with what he was doing. Then he stepped before his brother and admired his work. 'Much better, brother,' he said, still looking quite amused. 'Now you look like you hadn't even seen a hairbrush in years.'

Elladan rolled his eyes. 'Alright then,' he said resignedly. 'Anything else?'

'Indeed.' Aragorn took off his leather overcoat and handed it to his brother. 'Wear this. And now some basic rules: You leave the speaking to me. And if someone addresses you as 'youth' don't do anything stupid. You look like one after all. And watch what you're doing,' he finished.

'Estel, there's no need to fuss like that. I can think on my own, you know.' He put on the overcoat and wrinkled his nose in distaste.

Aragorn sighed. 'It doesn't smell that bad, you know. By the way, you should do something about your glow. Those men will get just a little suspicious when their new companion looks like an oversized firefly in the dark.' He grinned and ducked the light blow Elladan aimed at his head. Straightening up again, he cast a last scrutinizing glance at his brother and gave a satisfied nod.

'Perfect,' he said. 'Let's go.'

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TBC… you know how it goes.