Ch. 1: Hiding the problem

Amon Ereb was lonely without Maglor, Elrond decided. Oh, there were still people around, but none of them exactly had the time or desire to entertain two young peredhel. Elrond flopped down dejectedly on the grassy knoll just beyond the archery range. Tomorrow afternoon, he told himself, one more night then Maglor would be back from his trading mission.

His gaze gradually wondered back to Amon Ereb's dilapidated silhouette. He wondered if Maedhros was missing his brother. Elrond shivered slightly at the thought of the tall redhead. If he was being honest, the twisting scars and near permanent scowl frightened him sometimes. Not nearly as often as they had when the twins were first taken six years ago, but still the sight of Maedhros sometimes scared him.

Elrond rolled over to pluck at the young, sweet grass and tiny meadow flowers as he pondered his strange little family. He was just starting to weave together some of the longer strands of grass when there was a quite whoosh followed by a meaty thunk. His arm jerked involuntarily.

Elrond looked down to see an arrow sticking all the way through his arm. He stared at it for a whole minute before he really processed what had happened. He clutched at his arm with a moan. The blood -his blood- was hot and slick. He heard someone yelling his name. Then his vision was filled with a very worried Elros.

"Valar! El, I didn't mean to hit you. I'm so sorry. I'll go get help," Elros babbled frantically.

"No! Don't!" Elrond gripped his twin's arm as best he could before Elros could run off, "If you get help they'll tell Maedhros and he will hit you as punishment."

Elros frowned.

"But you're hurt. You need help. I can deal with Maedhros, I've been hit before," he shrugged, turning a bit green as he stared at the arrow through his brother's arm.

"No, listen to me. I can deal with this myself. I just need a few supplies. If you can get those, I can deal with this by myself," Elrond hissed.

"El, I don't think that's a good idea." Elros wrung his hands in worry, clearly torn between the urge to run for help and the desire to respect his twin's plea.

"It is 'cause Nana always said I was older." Elrond was panting by now.

"That's funny, because I distinctly remember her telling me that I was older," Elros pulled a face.

"Just get what I need for me and I'll let you keep that honor."

"Fine, what do you need?" Elros sighed reluctantly.

Elrond gave him a quick list of supplies to bring back. Elros gave him another worried look before scampering off to retrieve the requested items. While he twin was away, Elrond inspected the arrow in his arm. He was glad to see that the arrow had a field tip and not one of the wicked looking barbed tips that the hunters often used when they went out. The smooth point meant that it would be easy to slide the arrow out of his arm.

It felt like forever before Elros returned. He was panting hard as he deposited the requested items in the grass next to his twin. Elrond had Elros thread the needle while he pulled the arrow from his arm. As soon as the arrow was free, blood flowed out at a much faster rate. Elrond drew a deep, shuddering breath before beginning.

He had seen the various members of the garrison stitch each other up, so he felt fairly confident that he knew what to do. Elrond's fingers were shaky as he tried his best to sew the wound closed. His sweat and blood made him almost drop the needle several times. The wound throbbed horribly and every time the needle punctured his skin, the pain spiked.

"Where'd you get a bow and a quiver anyways?" Elrond grunted trying to distract himself from the pain, "Maedhros says we're not allowed to have weapons yet without someone else there."

That was an understatement. Despite the fact that they lived in an active warzone, Maedhros vehemently stood by the position that elflings should not be given weapons without constant supervision. After Elros had nearly sliced a few fingers off with a sword, Maedhros had threatened both of them with latrine duty or worse if he caught them playing with anything more than the simple daggers Maglor had gifted them.

"I didn't steal it, I found it," Elros said defensively, "I was gonna put it back."

"I didn't say you stole it," Elrond hissed as he finished one side of the wound. The stitches were loose and far from neat, but they would have to do.

"Those don't look right. Maybe I should go get someone," Elros bit his lip in worry as he watched blood continue to leak out from the side that was stitched.

"They're fine," Elrond's voice was tight with pain as he worked on the last few stitches, "See? They hold and everything."

After quite a struggle on his part, Elrond eventually let his brother wrap the wound with a bandage.

"You sure that you're good? You're really pale," Elros furrowed his brow in worry, gripping Elrond's elbow as he swayed a bit.

"I'll be fine," Elrond's croaked. With Elros hovering beside him Elrond walked as best as he could back to Amon Ereb.

They had little problem sneaking into the fortress and up to the room that they shared. Once there, Elrond changed tunics, tossing his bloodied one in a heap behind the door where no one would see it. The rest of the day went as well as could be expected. Elrond spent a good portion of the afternoon just laying in bed, feeling too dizzy to rise. He forced himself to get up and go to dinner despite Elros' offer to create a cover story.

After dinner came the true test of courage.

"Elrond?" Maedhros' said. He had come up silently behind the twins while they left the mess hall, "A word please. Elros go back to your room."

Elros reluctantly obeyed the command, giving his twin a worried look. Elrond slowly turned to face the tall elf. Elrond felt dizzy looking up, but he hid it the best he could. He wanted to go back to bed and sleep off the blood loss.

"You've been acting strange today," Maedhros grumbled, his voice raspy like usual, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Elrond pressed his lips into what he thought was a smile.

Maedhros gave him a scrutinizing glance.

"What are you hiding?"

"Nothing?" Elrond was feeling increasingly more dizzy. He listed to the side as the room began to tilt.

"Nothing?" Maedhros repeated skeptically as he reached out a hand to support the elfling. Unfortunately, the tall elf gripped Elrond's arm right where he was wounded. At the pressure, Elrond couldn't keep a brave face. He whimpered softly as stars danced in front of his eyes. Maedhros readjusted his grip and that was all Elrond could take. With a very undignified moan, he passed out.