Summary: This is the first in the accounts of Gwador o Dunèdain. Estel and Legolas did not always know each other, nor were they particularly the best of friends. Legolas holds much distrust for humans, and is not easily convinced.

Name translations: Gwador o Dunèdain: Brother of [the] Dunèdain; Haithin an Estel: Departing with Hope

Other translations: ada: father; mae govannen: well met [elvish greeting]; mellon nin: my friend

Disclaimer: I do not own Estel/Aragorn/Elessar etc. Nor Legolas, nor Thranduil nor any others in this fan fiction. This is for all chapters from this time forward.

Haithin an Estel

Estel laid the book he was looking through down on the table next to his chair. Elven medical books were of no interest to the young man at the moment. The chair was soft and comfortable in the library, but he still shifted in discomfort.

Estel was one and twenty years of age, coming back to Rivendell only a year after being in the wild. He had been with a group of rangers for that year, but a letter had come from Lord Elrond asking for his return. It would have been foolish to say no to the Lord of Imladris, so Estel had come immediately. Of course, in the wild he would not have been addressed as Estel.

The name had given him enough grief as a child, Elladan and Elrohir never letting him hear the end of it. Elladan and Elrohir: the perfect big brothers. They were full grown when Estel had come to the Last Homely Houses, and had always been the ones to cuff him on the shoulder when they thought it proper. The name Estel had always been the butt-end of jokes. In the Wild, he had had no doubt that he would have gotten more, so he had used his true name: Aragorn. But, as if some odd fate had befallen upon him, he had been given another name, Strider. Something in the back of his mind told him he would have many more to come.

His thoughts were interrupted when the door to the library opened suddenly, making him jump. It was Elladan.

'Estel!' he said, and walked nimbly over to the chair, playfully nudging his younger brother with his elbow. 'You haven't jumped like that since we put the spider on your nose as a child.' Estel hid a smirk.

'I was thinking, dear brother.' Estel remarked, and picked up the book, putting it back on its correct spot on the shelf.

'My, that is a nice change.' Elladan nodded, 'and reading! You have spent too much time with Elrohir.' Indeed, though the twins were identical with looks, Elrohir had proved the one more logical.

'I read more than you think.' Estel said, and Elladan nodded.

'Obviously. What were you thinking about?'

'Your cruelty to me as a child.' Elladan laughed, and Estel shrugged. 'I would not be surprised if I was not traumatized from your constant picking and gloating.'

'Gloating?' Elladan huffed indignantly, and stuck his nose in the air. 'What would I possibly gloat about.'

'I am the son of Elrond, the greatest elf-lord in the world! I am wiser, more agile, and quicker than you will ever be!' Estel said with so much sarcasm that Elladan burst out laughing.

'So I was pompous when I was younger. I have ceased.'

'You were pompous when I was younger.' Elladan waved off the comment, and strode to the other side of the room.

'Are you nervous?' he asked, and Estel stopped, lifting an eyebrow.

'Of what?' he asked, and Elladan looked at him sharply.

'Ada did not tell you of why you were called to come here again?'

'No, he just said he would like me to come.' Estel contorted, and Elladan grinned.

'Then I will not tell you and ruin a surprise. But if you have had enough of Elrohir and me…' he shook his head and left with out another word. Estel could hear him chuckling to himself.

'Sometimes he nearly proves my thoughts that all elves are suspicious.' Estel muttered, and winced when he heard another voice behind him.

'Are they?' the voice said, and Estel turned to face Lord Elrond.

'I am sorry, Lord Elrond, I did not mean that.' He said quickly, and Lord Elrond smiled.

'Having nearly all your time spent with the twins, I would not be surprised of that observation.' He himself chuckled at the numerous times he had witnessed Elladan and Elrohir trick Estel into thinking something totally inaccurate of elves. He then remembered his purpose and motioned to the door. 'Estel, I have an errand for you to run.'

Prince Legolas looked out over the place that was Imladris. He had only been here thrice before, and it still caught him with wonder. He had been summoned by the Lord of Imladris twenty days prior to now, and had come as quickly as he could.

He had been friends with the twins since his birth, since they were slightly older than he, and spent his childhood with them. He saw them mostly when their father came to visit, though he himself had come to Imladris twice as a child. He had always been good friends with them and they got along fine.

This time he was not here to see the twins, he was here because Elrond had seemed urgent. Thranduil had said Legolas had better hurry after reading the letter, for Thranduil and Elrond were good friends, and he knew Elrond's actions well. It was undoubtedly something of importance.

Legolas ceased with a rather enjoyable flashback when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Elrohir standing there.

'Mellon nin!' Legolas said with a smile, but Elrohir did not smile back.

'Mellon? You disappear from here for years with out a word or letter, and yet you greet me with mellon.' He said; the bitterness in his voice made Legolas furrow his brow.

'Elrohir, are you all right?' he asked, and his genuine concern made Elrohir suddenly burst out laughing.

'You, my friend, are too gullible!' he proclaimed, and Legolas' concern turned into a hearty laugh and playful shove.

'You are too good the actor!' Legolas said; he had thought Elrohir was truly angry with him.

'It has been a bore with out you here to help with pranks.' Elrohir said, and put an arm around Legolas' shoulder. Legolas just shook his head, and laughed.

'You are still pulling those things on poor people?' he asked, and Elrohir nodded.

'Yes, I have a particularly good one we have recently played on father, would you like to hear of it?' Legolas shook his head, and Elrohir started off on the tale. Both were laughing by the end of it, and it was only when Elrond's face appeared did they stop abruptly, though not hiding smiles.

'Legolas, mae govannen!' he greeted warmly, and Legolas bowed. 'I am glad you have answered my summons.'

'What were they about, Lord Elrond?' Legolas asked, and Elrond put up a hand.

'Before that I would like you to meet a young man of Imladris,' he said, and Estel stepped forward, 'Estel.' Legolas tried to hide his distaste. It was true, he was a man, short, scruffy, and… odorous. Now, you must understand Legolas' views on men. He did not hate them, but he merely did not understand them. Living in the woods of Mirkwood for years had cut him off from most of the world, for men rarely traveled inside its dark borders. He had always been wary of their rough ways, odd dress, and harsh tongues. He hid it successfully, though, and Estel nodded to him. He nodded back.

'I am Legolas, son of Thranduil.' He said in greeting and Estel nodded again.

'I am known as Strider by most.'

'Yes, Estel seems an odd name for someone.' Legolas said, and Elrohir nodded.

'Yes, that is what we told ada, but he insisted on naming him so.' Elrohir said, and Elrond waved it off.

'It is a good name.' he said, and looked at Estel and Legolas, 'now, the reason I called you both here was because I have a task for you to perform together. One that I only entrust to the two of you, and here it is.' He held out a letter, giving it to Legolas, 'I would like you to deliver this to the Lady Galadriel.' Legolas felt the color drain from his face, and his heart stop.

'Pardon me, my Lord, but… you would like us to deliver a letter?' he said, disbelief written on his face. Even Estel was not ready for something of this… simplicity.

'Yes, is that too hard for you to do?' Elrond said, and Legolas found his dignity quickly, shaking his head.

'Not at all my lord, but would you not send… a messenger to do such a thing, instead of both of us?'

'No, not any messenger. Only you two will do, it is very important.' Elrond said, and Estel's voice came in a hoarse whisper.

'Of course, my lord.' He said, and bowed again, and Elrond smiled.

'Thank you. I would like you to leave tomorrow, it must arrive as quickly as possible.' Elrond said, and turned, leaving Legolas to still look at him with extreme disbelief.

'A mere letter!' Legolas fumed when he was well out of ear range, and Estel shook his head, walking back to the library, 'could not Strider do it himself?' Elrohir lifted his eyebrows, and crossed his arms.

'Do you find something wrong with my younger brother? He asked, and Legolas crinkled his nose.

'He is dirty, and… he smells like…'

'A man who has been in the Wild for a year.' He said, and Legolas nodded.

'Exactly!'

'You do not like him because of what he looks and smells like?' Elrohir was looking rather annoyed by now, and Legolas sighed.

'I hold little trust in men.' He said, remembering the tales that his father had told him about the Last Alliance. Elrohir immediately knew the feeling that Legolas had, and he sighed too.

'The Last Alliance is not something to base opinions on. Those were extreme times and not all men are the same.' Elrohir said, for he had spent many times with the Rangers of the North, along with Elladan. He knew that there were differences to be found in each. 'He is not a dwarf, though he will soon grow a beard like one if he does not shave.' Elrohir laughed at his own joke, but Legolas breathed heavily, and Elrohir took his mind off the subject with something else as they walked through the gardens.

A golden-haired elf stood around the corner that Elrond walked past, and caught him by surprise.

'Are you sure that was the wisest thing to do?' he asked, and Elrond frowned.

'What are you talking about, Glorfindel?' he asked, and Glorfindel shook his head.

'There was much tension, my friend, between the two. I'm sure you could see it.' Glorfindel said, and Elrond sighed as they walked together to Elrond's study.

'Legolas will merely have to get over his prejudices,' he answered curtly, and Glorfindel shook his head. 'Besides, I have good reason for him to get over them now. Times are to get darker, and there may be times when they will need to have a friendship formed.'

'I hope you are correct, my friend.' Glorfindel answered, and looked out the window of the study, where Legolas walked with Elrohir.