Disclaimer: Full disclaimer on first page.
Chapter Four
Elrohir smiled wickedly as he followed Elladan into the forest. Tylendal and Legolas had gone fishing once more, and now were the perfect time to pay them back for the Dye Incident, as it was now called in the palace.
He heard them talking up ahead, and elbowed Elladan in the side. With a scowl, Elladan elbowed him back. Both were a lovely shade of bluish-purple, thanks to Tylendal, and Elladan was not happy with the grim elf. Legolas had probably helped, or at least he knew about it, so he would be included in their repayment as well.
Elladan had thought up a brilliant scheme, and Elrohir was happy to go along with it. Suppressing another snicker, Elrohir changed his grip on the strong, covered bucket he carried. Inside were a couple of ingredients that should prove entertaining when loosed upon the prince and his companion.
Legolas was laughing, teasing Tylendal about something. The twins angled around, getting into the trees and positioning themselves overhead the other two elves. With duplicate smiles, they upended their covered buckets.
Shouts of surprise rang out below them, and the two brothers leaned against each other, laughing.
A splash sounded, and they looked down to see Legolas covered head to toe in berry juice, and dirt and grass was getting stuck to him. Tylendal had been doused with ink, and had leaped into the lake as soon as he realized what had hit him. The ink had been taken from a large barrel in storage in a closet they found in the palace, and the berry juice was taken from the kitchen.
Legolas turned and threw himself into the water as well, but the berry juice had clotted his hair, and no amount of vigorous rinsing got it out.
Tylendal stumbled from the lake, soaked and dripping, but with the worst of the ink off. As it was, he was a nice shadowy gray, while Legolas would have to spend many hours combing through his hair and washing himself to get the purple berry stains off.
With another laugh, the twins retreated higher into the trees as Legolas began climbing. Tylendal rushed to help, but froze half way across, stiffening and quickly scanning the surrounding forest. He had heard something to his right, and seen a darker shadow lurking in the sun dappled trees.
Elrohir dropped to the ground, swiftly evading Legolas. He heard Tylendal's shout of warning, and turned to see what the matter was.
With a shriek, a large spider loomed over the stunned elfling, and it reared high on its last two pairs of legs. Legolas dove at it, sailing over Elrohir from his vantage point in the tree, and hit the spider in the side. The dagger given to him by his mother flashed, plunging a full handspan into its flesh.
The spider shrieked, and twisted around, trying to reach the elven prince. Tylendal darted underneath the spider as it reared again, driving one of his daggers into the soft belly, and this time the spider jerked hard enough to throw Legolas. Elladan leaped from a nearby tree and landed straight upon its back, pulling Legolas's dagger from its side and stabbing it into the joint of the neck.
Legolas scrambled to his feet, shouting at the spider to distract it. Elrohir was stumbling towards the fishing equipment, taking one of the knives used to cut the line on a fishing rod, and charged the spider.
Tylendal continued stabbing upwards, its black blood coating his arm, and crouching as the spider crashed back down upon its eight long legs, and Elladan locked his legs as tightly as he could to avoid being thrown. Legolas came back in, and after a few moments the spider fled, escaping into the trees. The elves followed, and caught up to the wounded creature, successfully killing it. If it had escaped, it would have alerted any other spiders around.
"Legolas, if this far the spiders are, when until now they were not, say you that we should tell your father of this immediately?" Tylendal said, wiping his dagger off and grimacing as he felt a sharp pain between his shoulders where the spider had managed to strike him with one of its legs. He wiped the blood that had coated him off as best as he could, but the shadowy tinge left from the ink was darker as the spider blood stained him. With a sigh, he glared at Elladan and Elrohir, who laughed shakily. They both were not as covered with it as he was, since he had been below the spider stabbing up most of the time.
Legolas examined a cut on his arm, received from another of the spider's flailing legs. He looked up and nodded. His father would need to know of this.
They looked around, and realized they could not see the lake. The battle with the spider had taken them deeper into the forest, and now they could not find their way out.
Elrohir climbed up a tree, but saw only more branches. The spider must have led them farther than they thought. Dropping to the ground, Elrohir shook his head.
Legolas examined the underbrush they had run through, but the spider had somehow managed to avoid trampling vegetation overly much. They could not follow its trail.
Tylendal looked around, trying to find signs of blood. He had stabbed it repeatedly in the belly, and it should have left a blood path, but the underbrush had covered its tracks and he did not know where to look first. With a sigh of defeat, he went back to the others.
Elladan gestured for the others, and shoved his way through the trees. With a shrug, they followed. They didn't dare split up, not with the spiders that lurk about, and if they are this close to the palace they must be numerous.
Shoving their way through the underbrush, they caught no sight of the lake or anything they recognized. With a steadily growing feeling of panic, they realized they were just getting even more lost with every step they took.
Stopping again as a whistling shriek rent the air, they moved closer to each other, eyes darting everywhere around them. Hissing filled the trees around them, and more spiders appeared in the tree branches. Drawing their weapons, the four elflings drew their blades again.
They may have been able to get away using stealth and their camouflaged out fits, but since Elladan and Elrohir were dyed purplish-blue, and Legolas was a nice violet with Tylendal tinged gray, they did not have a chance of hiding.
The spiders dropped to the ground, hissing in their high pitched voices, taunting the four young elflings. They were slightly confused with their colorful appearance, and paused just out of reach to examine them some more.
Elrohir tightened his grip upon the fishing dagger, while Tylendal readied his two knives and Legolas held up his knife giving to him by his mother. Elladan felt helpless, with no weapon to use. Without a word, Tylendal tossed him one of his knives.
Their curiosity sated, the spiders approached warily. Hissing and shrilling, they circled, and one got too close.
Elladan lashed out, his borrowed knife piercing an eye. The spider shrieked and jerked back, blinded in one eye. The others hissed angrily at their fellow's wound. Thrashing its legs about, the injured spider reared and bucked with the pain. Elrohir slashed as it stumbled near him, cutting into the side of its neck. With a final shriek, it took off into the forest, as another spider took its place.
The spiders attacked, and the elflings fought as well as they could. One spider staggered back, one of its legs gashed deeply from Tylendal's knife, and another shrieked as Legolas scored a hit on its side.
Seeing a break, Elladan grabbed Elrohir and dragged him past the spiders into the surrounding forest. Legolas crashed behind, and Tylendal hurried after.
Elladan darted by a fallen tree, and Tylendal leaped after him. Elrohir ran the other way around it, and shouted out in surprise. Legolas, who was closer, followed to see what the matter was. A second cry rang out.
Tylendal and Elladan crept cautiously over to where they had last been. The stopped at the edge of a forest river. A part of the bank had given way and collapsed into the river, and the tracks of their missing friends led to it. Elrohir must have run around the tree, saw the river, and managed to stop on the bank. But his weight collapsed the part he was standing on, and he had called out. Legolas probably had come running up afterwards, and tried to pull Elrohir back up, since there were scrabbling marks in the soft dirt around the fallen area. Legolas must have been pulled in as well.
With a glance at Tylendal, Elladan walked along the side of the bank, being careful to stay off the bank.
~*~*~*
Elrohir felt the ground beneath his feet give way, and he plunged below the icy waters of the forest river. Even though it was mid-spring, the waters were still cold. His breath caught as he fell in, and he grasped at the bank. He shouted to his companions, hoping they would hear.
Legolas came running through, and leaped forwards to grab Elrohir's wrists as he slid farther over the embankment. The water tugged at the young elf, and Legolas felt his grip on the bank slipping as well. Suddenly, he fell into the cold water as well, as the bank crumbled even more under his weight.
He struggled to stay above the water; the river was deeper than he thought. His clothes clung to him, and his hair whipped around as he tried to reach the bank. Elrohir was nearby, also having difficulties.
"Legolas," Elrohir said; his voice tinged with worry and fear. Legolas looked up, and began his struggles anew. Ahead of them was the mouth of a cave, which meant the river they were in went underground at some points. He did not like that idea, and swam furiously.
But the cave loomed overhead, and they felt themselves pulled into the darkness. Sputtering and coughing, Legolas fought to keep himself up and heard Elrohir nearby.
"Legolas?" Elrohir said; his voice was low and filled with dread.
"Yes?" Legolas said back, spitting water.
"Something is in here with us." Elrohir whispered back.
Legolas was about to question what the matter was, but his words were cut off as something brushed his leg. His breath caught and he looked to Elrohir, seeing the dim outline of him. The young elf's eyes were wide in the dark, and went even wider as he was pulled under water.
~*~*~*
Tylendal crept beside Elladan, his knife ready in his hands. They were following the river, trying to find where it ended so that they could find Legolas and Elrohir.
The river ended in a small cave, and there was no way they could fit through that. On an impulse, Elladan grabbed a rock and dropped it at the mouth of the cave. It went down and continued down, its pale gray color lost to their sight.
"That is a deep river." Elladan whispered, and Tylendal nodded in agreement.
The two elves walked on, trying to find where the river would come out again at.
So intent on their search, they did not notice the eyes watching them from the trees.
Justso: Sorry, I don't know the age equivalents. So what age would he be then, to look twelve or somewhere around that age?
Gwuenhevar: Thanks for your review. Yeah, I wouldn't like that either.
Coolio02: The twins are going to have some fun!
Crys ritter: Thanks for your review. I like to draw as well, and I will have a Tylendal drawing up on my site soon!
Thanks to all reviewers again and sorry to any I forgot!
Chapter Four
Elrohir smiled wickedly as he followed Elladan into the forest. Tylendal and Legolas had gone fishing once more, and now were the perfect time to pay them back for the Dye Incident, as it was now called in the palace.
He heard them talking up ahead, and elbowed Elladan in the side. With a scowl, Elladan elbowed him back. Both were a lovely shade of bluish-purple, thanks to Tylendal, and Elladan was not happy with the grim elf. Legolas had probably helped, or at least he knew about it, so he would be included in their repayment as well.
Elladan had thought up a brilliant scheme, and Elrohir was happy to go along with it. Suppressing another snicker, Elrohir changed his grip on the strong, covered bucket he carried. Inside were a couple of ingredients that should prove entertaining when loosed upon the prince and his companion.
Legolas was laughing, teasing Tylendal about something. The twins angled around, getting into the trees and positioning themselves overhead the other two elves. With duplicate smiles, they upended their covered buckets.
Shouts of surprise rang out below them, and the two brothers leaned against each other, laughing.
A splash sounded, and they looked down to see Legolas covered head to toe in berry juice, and dirt and grass was getting stuck to him. Tylendal had been doused with ink, and had leaped into the lake as soon as he realized what had hit him. The ink had been taken from a large barrel in storage in a closet they found in the palace, and the berry juice was taken from the kitchen.
Legolas turned and threw himself into the water as well, but the berry juice had clotted his hair, and no amount of vigorous rinsing got it out.
Tylendal stumbled from the lake, soaked and dripping, but with the worst of the ink off. As it was, he was a nice shadowy gray, while Legolas would have to spend many hours combing through his hair and washing himself to get the purple berry stains off.
With another laugh, the twins retreated higher into the trees as Legolas began climbing. Tylendal rushed to help, but froze half way across, stiffening and quickly scanning the surrounding forest. He had heard something to his right, and seen a darker shadow lurking in the sun dappled trees.
Elrohir dropped to the ground, swiftly evading Legolas. He heard Tylendal's shout of warning, and turned to see what the matter was.
With a shriek, a large spider loomed over the stunned elfling, and it reared high on its last two pairs of legs. Legolas dove at it, sailing over Elrohir from his vantage point in the tree, and hit the spider in the side. The dagger given to him by his mother flashed, plunging a full handspan into its flesh.
The spider shrieked, and twisted around, trying to reach the elven prince. Tylendal darted underneath the spider as it reared again, driving one of his daggers into the soft belly, and this time the spider jerked hard enough to throw Legolas. Elladan leaped from a nearby tree and landed straight upon its back, pulling Legolas's dagger from its side and stabbing it into the joint of the neck.
Legolas scrambled to his feet, shouting at the spider to distract it. Elrohir was stumbling towards the fishing equipment, taking one of the knives used to cut the line on a fishing rod, and charged the spider.
Tylendal continued stabbing upwards, its black blood coating his arm, and crouching as the spider crashed back down upon its eight long legs, and Elladan locked his legs as tightly as he could to avoid being thrown. Legolas came back in, and after a few moments the spider fled, escaping into the trees. The elves followed, and caught up to the wounded creature, successfully killing it. If it had escaped, it would have alerted any other spiders around.
"Legolas, if this far the spiders are, when until now they were not, say you that we should tell your father of this immediately?" Tylendal said, wiping his dagger off and grimacing as he felt a sharp pain between his shoulders where the spider had managed to strike him with one of its legs. He wiped the blood that had coated him off as best as he could, but the shadowy tinge left from the ink was darker as the spider blood stained him. With a sigh, he glared at Elladan and Elrohir, who laughed shakily. They both were not as covered with it as he was, since he had been below the spider stabbing up most of the time.
Legolas examined a cut on his arm, received from another of the spider's flailing legs. He looked up and nodded. His father would need to know of this.
They looked around, and realized they could not see the lake. The battle with the spider had taken them deeper into the forest, and now they could not find their way out.
Elrohir climbed up a tree, but saw only more branches. The spider must have led them farther than they thought. Dropping to the ground, Elrohir shook his head.
Legolas examined the underbrush they had run through, but the spider had somehow managed to avoid trampling vegetation overly much. They could not follow its trail.
Tylendal looked around, trying to find signs of blood. He had stabbed it repeatedly in the belly, and it should have left a blood path, but the underbrush had covered its tracks and he did not know where to look first. With a sigh of defeat, he went back to the others.
Elladan gestured for the others, and shoved his way through the trees. With a shrug, they followed. They didn't dare split up, not with the spiders that lurk about, and if they are this close to the palace they must be numerous.
Shoving their way through the underbrush, they caught no sight of the lake or anything they recognized. With a steadily growing feeling of panic, they realized they were just getting even more lost with every step they took.
Stopping again as a whistling shriek rent the air, they moved closer to each other, eyes darting everywhere around them. Hissing filled the trees around them, and more spiders appeared in the tree branches. Drawing their weapons, the four elflings drew their blades again.
They may have been able to get away using stealth and their camouflaged out fits, but since Elladan and Elrohir were dyed purplish-blue, and Legolas was a nice violet with Tylendal tinged gray, they did not have a chance of hiding.
The spiders dropped to the ground, hissing in their high pitched voices, taunting the four young elflings. They were slightly confused with their colorful appearance, and paused just out of reach to examine them some more.
Elrohir tightened his grip upon the fishing dagger, while Tylendal readied his two knives and Legolas held up his knife giving to him by his mother. Elladan felt helpless, with no weapon to use. Without a word, Tylendal tossed him one of his knives.
Their curiosity sated, the spiders approached warily. Hissing and shrilling, they circled, and one got too close.
Elladan lashed out, his borrowed knife piercing an eye. The spider shrieked and jerked back, blinded in one eye. The others hissed angrily at their fellow's wound. Thrashing its legs about, the injured spider reared and bucked with the pain. Elrohir slashed as it stumbled near him, cutting into the side of its neck. With a final shriek, it took off into the forest, as another spider took its place.
The spiders attacked, and the elflings fought as well as they could. One spider staggered back, one of its legs gashed deeply from Tylendal's knife, and another shrieked as Legolas scored a hit on its side.
Seeing a break, Elladan grabbed Elrohir and dragged him past the spiders into the surrounding forest. Legolas crashed behind, and Tylendal hurried after.
Elladan darted by a fallen tree, and Tylendal leaped after him. Elrohir ran the other way around it, and shouted out in surprise. Legolas, who was closer, followed to see what the matter was. A second cry rang out.
Tylendal and Elladan crept cautiously over to where they had last been. The stopped at the edge of a forest river. A part of the bank had given way and collapsed into the river, and the tracks of their missing friends led to it. Elrohir must have run around the tree, saw the river, and managed to stop on the bank. But his weight collapsed the part he was standing on, and he had called out. Legolas probably had come running up afterwards, and tried to pull Elrohir back up, since there were scrabbling marks in the soft dirt around the fallen area. Legolas must have been pulled in as well.
With a glance at Tylendal, Elladan walked along the side of the bank, being careful to stay off the bank.
~*~*~*
Elrohir felt the ground beneath his feet give way, and he plunged below the icy waters of the forest river. Even though it was mid-spring, the waters were still cold. His breath caught as he fell in, and he grasped at the bank. He shouted to his companions, hoping they would hear.
Legolas came running through, and leaped forwards to grab Elrohir's wrists as he slid farther over the embankment. The water tugged at the young elf, and Legolas felt his grip on the bank slipping as well. Suddenly, he fell into the cold water as well, as the bank crumbled even more under his weight.
He struggled to stay above the water; the river was deeper than he thought. His clothes clung to him, and his hair whipped around as he tried to reach the bank. Elrohir was nearby, also having difficulties.
"Legolas," Elrohir said; his voice tinged with worry and fear. Legolas looked up, and began his struggles anew. Ahead of them was the mouth of a cave, which meant the river they were in went underground at some points. He did not like that idea, and swam furiously.
But the cave loomed overhead, and they felt themselves pulled into the darkness. Sputtering and coughing, Legolas fought to keep himself up and heard Elrohir nearby.
"Legolas?" Elrohir said; his voice was low and filled with dread.
"Yes?" Legolas said back, spitting water.
"Something is in here with us." Elrohir whispered back.
Legolas was about to question what the matter was, but his words were cut off as something brushed his leg. His breath caught and he looked to Elrohir, seeing the dim outline of him. The young elf's eyes were wide in the dark, and went even wider as he was pulled under water.
~*~*~*
Tylendal crept beside Elladan, his knife ready in his hands. They were following the river, trying to find where it ended so that they could find Legolas and Elrohir.
The river ended in a small cave, and there was no way they could fit through that. On an impulse, Elladan grabbed a rock and dropped it at the mouth of the cave. It went down and continued down, its pale gray color lost to their sight.
"That is a deep river." Elladan whispered, and Tylendal nodded in agreement.
The two elves walked on, trying to find where the river would come out again at.
So intent on their search, they did not notice the eyes watching them from the trees.
Justso: Sorry, I don't know the age equivalents. So what age would he be then, to look twelve or somewhere around that age?
Gwuenhevar: Thanks for your review. Yeah, I wouldn't like that either.
Coolio02: The twins are going to have some fun!
Crys ritter: Thanks for your review. I like to draw as well, and I will have a Tylendal drawing up on my site soon!
Thanks to all reviewers again and sorry to any I forgot!