Yo. How are you all? I'm quite busy this week and will be more busy in the next week as well before things would loosen up and gave me some times to breathe easily. So the next chapter might use a longer time. Besides, I'm beginning a new story too. I hope you will enjoy this chapter.
Thanks Lily Baggins who do me a big favor by beta-read this chapter and the rest of this story
Thanks all the readers who follow this story so far both who reviewed and didn't reviewed
And Thanks to
Robin Gurl's INSANE : I saw that one you said about Pip too. It's a good work and I like it much. I don't know that you babysit children and I have no idea what does babysit look like too. It came from my experience when I was a child and we had a nurse in my house.
HaloGatomon : I don't know who I wish to be between Frodo and Legolas. Maybe, I want to be Frodo. SO I can hug Legolas everytime ^___^
NekoNinja : It's good for Frodo to be loved after all the tears and mournful about his parents.
Marbienl : Thanks for your great review and good idea. You will see what will happen though it's not the way you want.
Gia : Thanks for reading. But this chapter hasn't anything excite or bad yet.
Elvin Flame : Don't worry, I chase Gollum away for a moment.
Elfhobbit : I think you mean about this one ~ it was a tactic to make children feel better. Children tended to get frightened when they gazed up at one taller and bigger than them~ right? Well, I imagined Frodo with his 1 and a half feet and Legolas with at least 6 feet. And I shuddered with that. Of course, it might frighten Frodo sometimes too.
Disclaimer : See at chapter 1
*...* for thought.
'...' for some saying but not out loud or the sentence in the past.
Chapter 10
Legolas blinked his eyelashes briefly. The silence of the night disappeared as the sun rose. The birds woke up from their dreams, chatting with their friends and family loudly, which probably meant 'where are we going to get food today?'
The elf smiled at the beauty of nature. It seemed like he was home in Mirkwood. Lying outside under the trees and the stars was something that Sindar elves, like him, loved to do. The love for the forest ran in his veins.
He felt so fresh and full of energy because elves need not to sleep much and last night he had had the opportunity to sleep fully, instead of taking watch as Elladan and Elrohir. Of course, he felt guilty because of this. Every time they went to hunt orcs, they always shared the watch. But this time was different---he benefitted from being exempt and that benefit was lying in his arms peacefully.
Frodo was lying on top of him. His head was buried in the shallow of the elf's neck. The young hobbit shifted a little, rubbing his forehead softly on the elf's chin. One of his hands pulled the stuffed dog, which Minatha had put in his bag, closer to him. Another hand was fisted around Legolas' blond locks. It was Frodo's habit that everyone knew well. If he fell asleep in anybody's arms, that person would have to stick with him until morning because he wouldn't let that person go easily. He would grasp their clothes or their hair tightly. Most unlucky or lucky, whichever you think, was Legolas, in whose arms the hobbit usually slept in, or whose lap he sat in, while listening to tales in the Hall of Fire. Even Glorfindel and Gandalf were caught by Frodo once.
Legolas turned his head aside to the twins, careful not to jolt his younger charge. Elladan was lying on his side, watching him with blurry eyes, half awake and half asleep.
"Good morning," the son of Elrond whispered.
"Good morning," Legolas whispered back.
It was too early in the morning and they didn't want to wake the two sleepers. The two lay silently until the Prince of Mirkwood felt a movement in his arms. He looked down. Frodo yawned, showing his tiny teeth before smiling at him. Legolas sat and pulled Frodo up with him. The hobbit's fingers let go of his hair. He dropped the dog down and rubbed his eyes, then stretched his body gracefully like a cat.
"Good morning." He greeted a new day to Legolas with a hug before standing up and went to greet Elladan in the same manner.
Certainly Elrohir got his greeting as well though it wasn't the way he wanted.
"Good morning, 'rohir," Frodo shouted near the elf's pointed ear and jumped on him.
The poor elf started immediately when he felt a weight on his stomach. The brightest smile was in front of him. He smiled back playfully and grasped the boy before rolling about, careful not to crush the small body when Frodo was beneath him. Their laughter blended together for a few minutes until the roll ended with Elrohir under Frodo.
"Good morning 'rohir," Frodo said with huge grin, panting a bit and rolling off of the elf.
"Good morning, Frodo," the elf said and stood up, pulling the boy onto his feet with him. Elrohir heard a little grumble from Frodo's stomach and realized it was time for breakfast. He gazed at his brother and his friend who were grinning at him. Elladan's eyes said, 'You wouldn't want me to cook, brother,' while Legolas' eyes showed 'I just cooked last night. So it's your turn now.' He groaned inwardly and looked down at the halfling.
"What do you want for breakfast?"
Frodo didn't waste any time thinking at all.
"Fried fish!"
* * *
The Lord of Rivendell was obviously absentminded during Glorfindel's report. They were in Elrond's study. The owner was sitting behind his desk, holding a quill in his hand though he didn't note any words on the paper at all. The half-elf sat still as if he was listening to the report but in truth, he didn't hear any words at all. His mind drifted off to the certain group that was somewhere in the forest.
Glorfindel sighed softly. He raised one of his eyebrows in amusement. It was hard to see Elrond in this state. He wanted to put the report on the table that sat between them and walked out for he realized it was not necessary to go on with the subject while his lord wasn't paying any attention to him. But this work was needed urgently and they must finish it today.
"My Lord?"
No response.
"Elrond?" Glorfindel tried again. It worked. The elf in question stared at him, apologising at his absentmindedness. The tip of his ears turned red with shame.
"Sorry. Where are we?"
"You think about them." Instead of replying to the question, Glorfindel pointed out what was disturbing his master and his friend.
Elrond sighed. He put the pen down on the table and leaned back in his seat. Even though he mastered himself to act normally, his longtime friends such as Glorfindel always knew his mind anyway. *I act as if it's any other day, don't I?* he questioned himself. *Maybe not*
"Yes. I was thinking about Elladan. Yesterday, I forgot to forbid him to do that."
Glorfindel felt trouble too, though he didn't show it on the surface.
"Elrohir wouldn't let him. We know that very well," he reassured the lord of Rivendell. Although, his mind started panicking with what things would happen if… he shuddered inside at his imagination.
"That's right, my friend. We will know when they come back. Let's start our work again," Elrond said as he picked up the report to read himself as Glorfindel explained the situation to him once again.
Although the elves tried to keep busy with their work, their minds were still occupied with the three elves and a hobbit outside Imladris.
* * *
Frodo gazed at the fish in the pan with amusement. He was standing beside the unavoidable cook, Elrohir. The oil danced merrily in the pan when the elf sent the fish to swim in it. The smell of honey that Elrohir had painted on the fish was floating in the air.
The periannath started at the elf's demonstration and imagined what his uncle would look like when he woke up in the mornings and saw Frodo carrying fried fish or pork or chicken, whatever, into his room. *Bilbo would be happy* he thought. He imagined that his uncle would smile and hug him and announce that he was a good boy.
However, he must learn how to cook first.
"Can I fry the fish too, 'rohir?" Frodo asked, hoping that Elrohir wouldn't refuse him like his mother 'No, you can't. You are too young to do that.' These were the words she used when he asked her about cooking.
Elrohir deserted his eyes from the pan to Frodo. He looked at the pan and the raw fish that were lying on some large leaves. Last night they had left some fish, which Elladan had wrapped in some large leaves, so they wouldn't have to fish again in the morning.
"I just want to know how. So I can help Uncle Bilbo do some cooking when we get home." Frodo gave his reason to the elf, praying in his mind. *Say yes, please, yes, yes…*
"Are you certain?" Elrohir asked. Frodo was so small to do any chores but well, it was his demand. Besides, he thought, Frodo might want to cook himself when he was hungry and Bilbo appeared to be not at home. Food was always the most important thing to any hobbit.
Elladan and Legolas said nothing, knowing too well hobbits' love of food, and they thought, like Elrohir : 'Frodo should learn to cook.'
"Yes," Frodo nodded with eagerness.
With that confirmation, Elrohir pulled the hobbit nearer to him and started his teaching.
"First, you must lay the pan on the fire like this." He paused to make sure the hobbit was tracking his words. "Then put some oil into the pan and wait until it boils like you see it right now.
"Put the fish down. You see, it's changing its color." The elf laid two pieces of fish in the pan.
"Yes, it becomes white," Frodo replied.
"Good. You must wait a little and flip it to another side because if you don't, the side that doesn't touch the hot oil will be raw," Elrohir said and gave Frodo the fork he had used as a flipper. It was made of wood. Therefore it was light enough for Frodo to carry easily. The periannath received the fork and stared at the son of Elrond as if he was asking for an order.
"Flip it," the dark haired elf said and guided Frodo's hand that was grasping the flipper to the pan. "Flip it," Elrohir repeated again when he saw the hobbit hesitated to turn the fish to the other side.
Unfortunately, Frodo overestimated. He thought the fish must be heavy, so he held the flipper firmly with his two tiny hands and flipped it with all his might.
"Oops," he exclaimed as the fish flew out of the pan and landed on top of Elladan's head.
"Agrrrrrrrr…" The poor elf cried out and jumped to his feet. His hand dusted the hot object out of his hair and he ran quickly to the river before hurling himself into the stream.
The others ran after him. All were worried, especially Frodo, who was as pale as paper. He grasped Legolas' legging with his trembling hands and leaned on his strong legs.
In a minute Elladan waded back to the shore. He chuckled a little at his unlucky event and grinned at Frodo a little to reassure the boy, though he still felt pain.
"I'm sorry 'ladan. I didn't mean for it to happen. Are you all right?" Frodo asked; his head peeped behind Legolas' legs, wishing the blond- haired elf would save him from Elladan's wrath.
"I'm quite fine, little one. The one you must apologize to are the fish and the crab that freaked out when I threw myself into the water," Elladan said. He bent his knees a little to rub the boy's hair. The water from his hand dripped onto the hobbit's head.
"Just one thing..."
"Yes?" Frodo raised his head up to see the elf.
"Fly the fish to Elrohir's head next time."
With that word, he was pushed back into the river again by Elrohir's hand. Elladan grasped his brother's ankle and tripped him into the water with him. The twins wrestled in the water as if they were only one hundred years old. Legolas and Frodo joined the battle too.
They didn't know how long they were in the river until Legolas stopped his fight as he sniffed something in the air---something burning.
"The pan!!!" he cried. Elrohir had put two fish in the pan. One had flown out but one was still in the pan.
All hurried to the fire they had made. Elladan jerked the pan out of the fire and dropped it immediately because it was too hot to hold. They all looked at each other and the fish, which was dark and hard instead of bright brown.
No one said any word; only the grumble from their stomachs could be heard.
"Go you all, change your clothes and come back to help me do sandwiches. I will fry all the fish we have," Elrohir said and shooed his companions away while he started his cooking again; chuckled a little as he eyed the fish. Mithrandir said the true 'Hobbit is an interesting race in Middle Earth.'
* * *
Legolas laid the plate of wild strawberry near their bags. It came from the same strawberry Elladan had found yesterday. The Prince of Mirkwood walked silently to the small body that was huddling in the blanket.
Frodo was taking a nap as children should. He slept on his side, one hand tucked under his chin while another hugged his stuffed dog. Legolas hesitated between letting Frodo get his rest more or waking him up now. After a battle in his mind, he decided to leave the boy for a moment. The hobbit must recover from the swimming after their breakfast in the morning. He really deserved to get his rest.
The twins were on the shore. Elladan was piercing a piece of rabbit on the sticks his brother had carved.
The brothers had hunted some rabbits in the afternoon while Legolas watched over Frodo, and they returned to the encampment with five rabbits. The twins used the time Frodo slept to prepare the food for their dinner. They cleaned the rabbits and sliced them in many pieces, then mixed them in the pot with the herbs they had found while hunting so the meat would have more taste. They waited an hour for the herbs to seep into the rabbit before piercing them with the sticks. Some of which were made small for Frodo's hands.
Before long, all the game was on the sticks. It was time to wake the hobbit up.
"Frodo," Legolas called and Frodo blinked at him groggily.
The elf disentangled Frodo from his blanket and carried him to the river so the boy could wash his face. Washing the face with cold water was always the best method to wake someone up. Afterward Frodo felt less drowsy than he had a minute before.
They walked back to the fire and began to have dinner together.
* * *
Elrohir poked the wood on the fire. Around him all was silent, for the others were sleeping. He was the only one who was still awake in this late hour. He had watched for two hours and still had another couple of hours to go before he could wake Elladan to take over his watch.
"Mmmm…"
The elf jumped a little at the sound. He turned around to see where it came from and stopped at Frodo. The halfling was lying in Legolas' bedroll. He lay on his side with his back pressed to the elf's chest. He was hugging one of Legolas' hands close to his chest instead of the stuffed dog that was lying on the ground near him.
"…not full yet…" the hobbit murmured with a sigh and snuggled up to the hand.
Elrohir chuckled softly. Frodo was really a hobbit; he thought about food even in his sleep. This evening had been headache for the boy. They had suggested to him "you should turn the meat to the other side" or "don't protrude it near the fire too much" or "no, you must wait a little more. It's still a bit raw," or "do you want to eat my stick?"
The halfling tried to comply with all they had told him. However, the result turned out to be inedible. Of the stick the boy roasted, one side was burnt dark and another side was half raw.
Finally, the elves had had to roast the rabbit for the poor boy unless Frodo would eat nothing or would get sick from eating the rabbit he roasted.
Suddenly, Elrohir felt uneasy. He smelled an unusual thing in the wind. His elven sense told him that some wicked things were going to befall them. The horses were restless also. They strode to him silently and nudged his shoulders as if seeking comfort from him. The elf whispered soothingly in elvish to the stallions and the beasts calmed down only a bit.
The dark haired elf stood up. He picked up his bow and the quiver, deciding that scouting the area would help him settle his mind.
He walked through the forest for twenty minutes, then heard the voices he was accustomed to. It was orcs.
To be Continued...
