Summary ; During an excursion into the woods, the Mirkwood princes and the Rivendell twins got trapped in a powerful storm.
Hi, everyone! See? Didn't I tell you I'll come back with 'Typhoon' today? He! He! I'm sure you don't want to hear me blabbering about so start reading!
NOTE ; This chapter is not betaed yet due to some technical difficulties. I'll make the adjustments later.
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"You shot me! I can't believe this! BUT YOU SHOT ME!!!!!" Elladan still had not stopped yelling.
Elrohir, his identical younger twin looked on guiltily as their friends, Keldarion and Legolas, the princes of Mirkwood, smothered their laughter behind their hands.
"Come on, Ell. I've told you I was sorry," said Elrohir.
Elladan glared. "Sorry? YOU SHOT ME, YOU MORON!!!!!!"
Elrohir cringed. Keldarion laughed as he bent down beside his brother, tending to Elladan's injury. The arrow was still imbedded deep in Elladan's right foot. His boot was drenched with blood and he must be feeling quite an agony, but the two Mirkwood brothers could not help but find the humorous side of an otherwise tense situation.
"Stop whining, Ell!" Legolas said, still chuckling. "You are such a baby!"
"I tell you who is the baby among us! You are!! The three of us are 1,000 years older than you and we completely know how annoying little brothers can be," Elladan yelled, sending murderous glare at Legolas then at Elrohir. "So shut up and heal me so I can beat this moron here to a pulp!!"
Keldarion shook his head. "Oh, grow up, Ell! Can't you see how scared Ro is?"
Elladan instantly stopped his tirade and took a good look at his twin. Sure enough, Elrohir was extremely pale. There was deep guilt and fear on his face. The elder twin was suddenly assailed with remorse. Wordlessly, he reached up a hand to his brother.
Elrohir took it in his firm grasp. "I'm truly sorry, Ell. Really, I am. To know that I could have hit your heart instead!"
Elladan returned the squeeze. "I know, Ro. I know. Forgive me for blowing up so high. It was an accident, not your fault."
A while ago, Elrohir had been inspecting the workings of his bow and arrow right before they were about to depart back for Mirkwood. They had been spending a full day lazing around by the waterfall of Qestari, which was about fifty leagues away from the woodland realm. Legolas had just recovered from his experience of being kidnapped by the wild Norsemen clan. After being cooped up in his chamber for nearly a week, feeling highly restless, Legolas had begged his brother and their friends to take him some place where he could breathe the fresh air and rejuvenate.
So, the three elder elves had taken him here on foot to the magnificent cascade of clear shining water of Qestari that had been named after a beautiful ancient nymph. The moment they arrived, the four companions had immediately shed their weapons and tunics and dove right into the cool and crystalline pool beneath the waterfall. After spending hours of frolicking and wrestling around in the water like a group of drunken otters, they finally decided to head back home before King Thranduil could send out his army of search and rescues.
While pulling the string of his bow experimentally, Elrohir's fingers had slipped all of a sudden and the arrow flew towards the nearest object in its line of target; Elladan's misfortune right foot.
Keldarion and Legolas exchanged smiles when they saw the twins held on to each other. Carefully, with Legolas' help, Keldarion pulled the arrow out. Elladan shut his eyes and groaned deeply. Elrohir hugged his twin tighter, whispering consoling words.
The moment the arrow was taken out, Legolas reached down and set his healing touch to work. A powerful manyan healer as he was, the prince was able to heal Elladan's wound completely in mere seconds.
Now that the agony was totally gone, Elladan could breath easier. "Thanks, both of you. I'm not sure if I could walk all the way back to Mirkwood with that kind of injury."
Elrohir still felt bad. "I'm sorry, Ell."
Elladan smiled. "Stop that, Ro. You're already forgiven. Just promise me you won't do it again!"
"Even if he promised, I'm not sure if he can keep it! He has terrible shot!" Legolas teased.
Elrohir glared before he pounced upon the Mirkwood prince. Both fell to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs, growling and pummeling each other.
Elladan glanced at Keldarion. "See? I told you little brothers are annoying!"
Half an hour later on their way back home, Legolas sported a shiner while Elrohir had a split lip, but both were grinning like idiots as they exchanged jokes and banters between them. Keldarion and Elladan could only shake their heads; half exasperated and half amused with their younger brothers' antics.
"Hey! I have an idea! What do you say if we race?" Legolas suddenly suggested excitedly.
"I second to that!" Elrohir said loudly. "There are two routes back to Mirkwood, through the valley or through the hills. Elladan and I will take the hills. It's shorter."
"No problem. Kel and I will take the valley. It's easier."
"All right. Let's go!"
Before Elrohir and Legolas could take off at high speed, Elladan and Keldarion each grabbed the back of their brothers' tunic. "Not so fast, you two!!! Who says we are racing?"
"We did!" the younger elves replied. "Come on!!!" With that, Legolas and Elrohir sped away, taking different directions.
Sighing heavily and cursing under their breath, Keldarion and Elladan glanced ruefully at each other before they ran after their respective brothers.
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"I can't believe I let you drag me into this!" Keldarion complained for the umpteenth time as he trudged after his brother through the muddy soil of the valley. They had been running non-stop and Mirkwood was still twenty-five leagues away.
Legolas grinned in return. "Aw, come on, Kel! Where's your sense of adventure?"
"I forgot to bring it with me and left it somewhere in my chamber!" Keldarion retorted, jumping nimbly over a fallen log. "What is the prize if we win this race anyway?"
"It's not the prize that matters. It's the glory of winning! That's what counts the most!"
"Yeah, right," Keldarion snorted, scowling at Legolas's back. His younger brother never broke his pace. In fact, he was running much faster than ever. That kid has more stamina than a wild bull, Keldarion thought. And has lesser sense than a monkey and…Wait! What in the world is that?
Keldarion halted and frowned. He looked around him in rapt attention, his keen senses working full time. It took Legolas several moments to realize that his brother had stopped running behind him. He turned and, to his confusion, saw Keldarion standing so still and silent. "Kel? What's wrong?"
"Do you feel that?" Keldarion said quietly.
"Feel what? I don't feel a thing," Legolas replied, as he also looked around him, a dagger ready at hand.
"It's something in the air. The air is changing so drastically. Can you feel it?"
Legolas nodded as he finally noticed the shifting weather. The temperature had dropped and the sun had suddenly disappeared behind the darkened clouds above. The air started to get so oppressive that they both knew that something was about to happen anytime soon.
"A big storm is coming," said Legolas.
"Yes. And it's coming fast." Keldarion nudged his brother forward. "I'm not sure how big this one will be but I think we need to seek for shelter."
"In this valley?" Legolas let his brother drag him up an embankment. "There's nothing but open space!"
"That's why we must get to higher ground," Keldarion panted as they quickly climbed up the hill. "We need to look for a cave before the storm hit."
But they were a little too late. The imminent typhoon from the northern region came upon them violently while the two brothers were still struggling looking for a place to take cover.
TBC…Err…cliffie?
