"Glorfindel, No!" Elrond's voice rang crisp and clear even from the ground as he watched Glorfindel struggling to stand, stumbling in the direction of the window which Raven had flown from.

"I have to- I need," the blond elf gasped as the arrow, still stuck in his shoulder, was jostled. Yet he continued. "Elenya- she's scared... it was just-"

"Glorfindel, you're wounded."

"Tis but a flesh wound," he was now leaning against the wall, still stumbling towards the window.

"You need time to recover."

"I don't have time!"

"You also lack wings to follow her and you will not leap from a fourth story window with an arrow in you shoulder. Now, come with me to the healing halls." Elrond had managed to pull himself to shaky feet and glared down at Glorfindel with as much sternness as he could dredge up. "Glorfindel, do NOT force me to make it an order."

At those words, Glorfindel deflated, moving to briefly check on the twins who were slowly waking. Satisfied that he wouldn't be forced to scrape his Captain from the rocks below the house, Elrond then turned to the other occupants of the room, Legolas and Estel. He inhaled deeply before addressing them.

"Prince Legolas, welcome to Imladris. Unless the Woodland Realm is currently under direct siege, I must ask that you wait to deliver your message for a few hours yet. Estel shall show you to your room."

The prince nodded wordlessly and Elrond gave his sons a very strict order to attend the healing halls as well the moment they could walk properly again. He then turned to Glorfindel and glared at the warrior until he followed meekly. The entire time they walked, Elrond was counting in his head going up and down a hundred as he tried to keep himself sane. Of all things that he expected to occur when Legolas' arrival was announced... this was not one of them.

When they reached the halls, he tended to Glorfindel's wound in silence for he was one who preferred a bit of peace to sort out his thoughts. Glorfindel however was rather the opposite and made very vocal protests as Elrond forced a pain numbing brew down his throat before cutting out the arrow as carefully as he could whilst his patient instead on gesticulating wildly with his hands.

"I... I don't know what happened! It was an instinct! I saw the arrow flying and I just pushed the Prince out of the way."

"Please don't move that shoulder."

"Eru... it's all my fault! I promised I would stand by her... I promised that I was her friend and then... and then that!"

"Glorfindel, give me back that bandage."

"She's scared. So so scared... but why? Why would the Prince be such an enemy to Elenya? Was he why she is scared of elves?"

"Drink this-"

"And Eru... Nightshade! She can't survive that wound. Why would Legolas do such a thing? I always took the wood elves as lovers of all living things."

"All of it Glorfindel."

"I don't know what she'll do without that wolf! Nightshade was her rock, Elenya always had nightmares and Nightshade was the only one who could get her through them."

"Don't make faces at the tea. You're worse than an elfling."

"She's angry... and she's stronger than you think... I don't see this ending well..."

Glorfindel finaly finished the tea that Elrond administered having somehow calmed down slightly during his rant. He shakily wiped his fevered brow and Elrond placed a comforting hand on his good shoulder, squeezing lightly. In truth, his own head was spinning, but it was hardly the time for hysterics. He could feel Erestor standing outside the door and he knew that he would have to have a meeting with both of his senior staff members before going to Legolas and Estel.

"Rest now," he ordered Glorfindel firmly. "You are in no state to be chasing her and I doubt that she wishes to be found. We will discuss this once I have tended to my sons and you have calmed down."

Glorfindel gave a shaky nod and Elrond exited the room nearly crashing into Erestor who couldn't have stood closer to the door if he tried. Elrond extended one hand and silenced the counselor, ordering him to wait in his office until he finished checking on his sons. The counselor nodded and gave a short bow before retreating to Elrond's office, no doubt preparing a speech about the dangers of such guests and the foolishness of arming her.

When Elrond entered the twins' room- for they spent so much time in the healing halls that they had their own room there- Elrond found them both sitting on a bed perfectly healthy, if one were to discount their rather glum expressions. The twins' hair was a tousled mess and both seemed as ready for action as Glorfindel. Elrond smiled sadly as he saw the dejected expressions on his sons' faces. He knew that they had become somewhat close to Raven and were likely both hurt and confused by the turn of events.

"Have either of you held any ill symptoms?" he asked as he ran his hands along Elladan's skull before moving on to Elrohir.

"No Ada... we're both fine," Elladan mumbled.

"You were only unconscious for a moment, but there is always a risk. Any problems with vision or loss of focus?"

"Just confusion over Raven," Elrohir piped in this time.

"You are not to go looking for her," Elrond ordered sharply, already knowing what his sons would wish to do.

"But Ada-"

"No. I will be meeting with Erestor, Glorfindel, and Legolas about this incident. You are to remain in Imladris at least until our meeting has completed. You shall hear my judgment then."

"But Raven was our friend too. We should be present," Elrohir pointed out. No doubt recalling how they exchanged arrows on the training fields.

"I believe this matter goes beyond such things."

"She's not... she's not dangerous-" Elrohir tried, but was cut off by Elrond who raised a hand to silence his son.

"She was one stroke of luck away from killing Prince Legolas," he paused, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "We will discuss this later."

The twins, knowing when their father had had enough, nodded their heads and sat to finish drinking the tea that their father insisted on brewing. Elrond fixed them with one last glance before striding from the healing halls and towards his office. When he arrived he found Glorfindel, Erestor, and Legolas already present. It appeared that his advisor had already been briefed at least somewhat on what had occurred. Said advisor was standing with his arms crossed and lips pressed into a thin line. Elrond could swear that he could hear the "I told you so" that the proper advisor would never say aloud.

The sun was setting and a cool evening breeze wafted in through the open windows. In the distance, the falling sun created a pool of orange and yellow, blanketing the valley. Elrond took a moment to collect himself by gazing out that window. If only life were so peaceful, he couldn't help but think as he gazed outward.

"We are all aware of the events which just occurred. I am certain that there are many questions, however I believe that it would be wise to start at the beginning," Elrond spoke in a measured tone.

"Why did you shoot the wolf?" Erestor questioned Legolas.

"I apologize if I broke hospitality," Legolas looked towards Elrond with concern. "However the wolf attacked me, it lept towards me and I was under the assumption that the creature had broken in for are wolves not beasts of Sauron?"

"Nightshade had never attacked a single elf unprovoked before," Glorfindel's tone was hard as steel.

"I fired mid-leap, my Lord. There was no mistake in that attack."

"She has saved my life from orcs twice over."

"The creature came towards me with no warning."

"Raven referred to you as 'pup-slayer,' an epitaph which I have yet to hear," Erestor pointed out. "Have you encountered the wolf before."

"Not that I recall, however... it is not unusual for us to cull wolves breeding near the city."

"Perhaps," Elrond, who had remained silent for the majority of the argument, now spoke. "We should start at an earlier beginning. Have you encountered Raven before?"

"Yes. She is a prisoner escaped from the King's dungeons."

"A prisoner?!" Glorfindel gaped. "For what crime?!"

"I did not reside in the Woodland Realm at the time... but she was found trespassing. King Thranduil found her form suspicious and when questioned, she refused to identify her species or purpose for trespassing. He believed that a stay in the dungeons would loosen her tongue."

"And yet you still know not who she is?" Elrond asked.

"No."

"How long?" Glorfindel's voice was nearly a whisper of repressed rage. He did not even look Legolas in the eye, merely staring at his clenched fist as he spoke.

"She was there for some time before I arrived... so I believe a little over three years. I almost did not recognize her this day... for she has changed."

Suddenly, Glorifndel stormed out of the room. He moved so quickly that Elrond didn't have a chance to object, however almost as soon as the door managed to swing shut it was thrown open once more. Glorfindel returned with a large pad of paper in his hands, a pad which he slammed down heedlessly on Elrond's desk. He flipped through it furiously until he landed on a page. At that point, he beckoned Legolas over, pointing to the contents of the page.

There, before all of them, was a charcoal sketch. The image was that of Raven, but far younger. There was no hardness to her gaze, no sharp words on her tongue. Instead, the face was bent in grief with a single tear trialing down the curve of her cheek. Every aspect of the face was drawn with painstaking care until the shadows seemed to pull her face off the page. Mostly however... she looked so young. To Elrond's eyes, experienced in raising the heirs of Isildur, she was but a child not even at the cusp of adulthood. She was innocent, scared, and utterly vulnerable.

"Was this what she looked like?" there was a slight tremble to Glorfindel's voice, and the Prince refused to meet his challenging glare.

"Yes."

"By Iluvatar," Glorfindel hissed and Elrond looked up, mildly startled. In all his years of knowing the re-born elf, he was never one to curse... especially not to take Iluvatar's name in vain. "That is the image of a child!"

"What occurred to her those three years?" Elrond asked.

"She was fed and kept locked up..." Legolas paused for a moment in hesitation, but continued. "On occasion the King would question her, but she responded with nonsense which he saw as lies. Upon my return to the Kingdom I was sent in to... question her."

"She called you a promise-breaker."

"I- I promised to release her from her cell if she answered me honestly... and she did not... even under the influence of Naitie."

"You gave a child Naitie?" Erestor gasped for even he was horrified. Elrond found himself cringing at the thought for Naitie was a foul substance indeed. It was invented long ago by Curufin Feanorion and was heralded as a truth potion of sorts. It was usually quite effective... however it warped the mind of those who it was administered to, turning shadows into monsters, wind into howls, and memories into nightmares of the day. Even in mortal bodies it tore through their insides, burning like no other pain and sometimes wrecking bodies past salvation. If Raven was dosed with Naitie, she was lucky to still be alive.

"She gave no direct answers... the King was concerned that she posed a threat to the Woods..."

"And so you took a lost child, locked her up in solitude for three years, interrogated her, and poisoned her. Three years of solitude... if she is as mortal as she seems... less has been known to drive men mad." Elrond had never been particularly fond of King Thranduil and there was a reason why he had never been added to the White Council. Yet this moved beyond what he expected of the haughty king... Thranduil had gone too far.

"King Thranduil did what he believed was best for the safety of our people."

"During all that time..." Erestor's voice was surprisingly hesitant. "Of all the questions you asked... did you ever ask her name?"

The silence was all that they needed for an answer.

Elrond could practically hear the way that Glorfindel fumed, he could feel the anger rolling of the ancient elf in waves. What they just heard... explained so much. It explained why Raven was so alone, why she was terrified of elves, why she lasted out so fiercely when threatened. Of course, it did little to explain her origins as the wood elves seemed just as stumped as them... but it did explain the entire conflict. The picture was suddenly clear in Elrond's head; Nightshade saw the elf who killed her fellow wolves and attacked, Legolas defended himself, Raven saw her friend killed by the one who imprisoned her, then Glorfindel saved Legolas and thus broke Raven's trust. It was a situation cursed from all sides.

Elrond was also very well aware of the rant that Glorifndel was about to unleash upon Legolas, of the grand speech regarding her heroics in Gondolin, how she save his life many times, how she healed his wound and nursed him back to health, of how she had protected Imladris from the shadows... but Elrond also knew that such speech would be little help. Instead, he dismissed both Glorfindel and Erestor, stating that he would further explain what they knew of Raven to Legolas and recieve whatever message he brought. Tempers were running high and after the events of the day, the last thing that Elrond wanted was further conflict.

Both elves grudgingly complied, moving towards the door, but Glorfindel paused. With one hand on the doorframe and his back to the room, he spoke in a slow and grave voice.

"Elenya was a child, pure of heart and filled with all the fear of a mortal walking amongst beasts who she fought with no skill but great courage. For many years her only friend was a wolf which has now been taken from her by the ones who hardened her heart. I fear for what she will now become."

Glorfindel left, but his words hung in the air, heavy with the weight of prophesy.