Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or any characters and/or places
thereof.
Alexis: Some people are just plain mean. Sometimes they treat others badly out of simple insecurity.
Leggylover03: Um. Right. Interesting. Hah, I'm just kidding. I can't tell you whether that is close to or far from the truth of the story, but you'll see.
*****
And nothing had changed. Lysander, after his momentary loyalty to Estel, was once again neutral. For three more days the Elflings continued to torture the boy in the most underhanded of manners, and for three days Estel continued to allow this, never letting Elladan and Elrohir know--as though they did not know already! The group became bored, and so Elrohir took to leading them, and he would call out assignments to them--snag a bit of this species of plant, yell out the name of the next bird you see, and so on. At dusk the twins would switch, and Elladan would lead the group, often well into the night. When they stopped, it was Elladan's hope, they would be too tired to be nasty. He was wrong, of course.
At a quarter past ten on the fifth day of the journey, Luinil sat watch on a log near the dying campfire. He was tired and eager for his watch to end. Wind stirred the leaves on the trees, and an owl in a nearby tree hooted, then silence reigned again. Though Luinil would never admit it, he was frightened. When a twig snapped, he jumped. "W-who's there?" he called out. There was no reply. The owl hooted once more, and flew into the night. That was all the warning they had.
In moments the camp was full of Men. They were not so tall as a fully- grown Elf, but certainly taller than the Elflings, armed with swords and seeming vicious. Luinil cried out and was on his feet at once, grabbing his bow from where it leaned against the log. Legolas, who had woken from a restless sleep at the sound of the twig snapping, scurried into a tree and called out, "Awake, awake, Elves of Imladris! Awake and fight!" as soon as he saw them stirring he nocked an arrow to his bow, drew it back and let it fly forward. It found its mark as Legolas fired a second time.
It was chaos. In Elvish Elladan cried, "To the trees! Take your bows and retreat to the treetops, fire from safety!" The Elflings were quick to obey, snatching their bows and quivers and rushing to the higher branches, grappling for handholds. Elladan and Elrohir stayed behind, on the ground, to be sure the young ones get up all right. Naarie slipped, but Elrohir caught him and gave him a shove back up into the trees. Estel faltered, uncertain, unwilling to seek safety while his brothers remained in danger. "Estel, do as I say!" Elladan shouted. Estel gasped, surprised, then nodded and in moments was in the lower branches of the same tree Legolas had chosen.
With the others safe and the arrows flying at the Men, Elladan and Elrohir turned to the trees. They had gotten their charges to safety and sought it themselves. "There," Elrohir said, motioning to the nearest tree even as he rushed to it, Elladan following. They skidded to a halt at the base of the trunk.
"You first," Elladan panted, and though he wished to Elrohir did not disobey. Elladan stood at the base, shooting any Man who came near, or tried to, as Elrohir climbed. Once he had reached a low but safe perch, only minutes after he had started his ascent, Elrohir called down, "Elladan, now you!" Elladan turned and began to climb as Elrohir kept him safe. The Men were angry now, most of them hacking away at the trees, damaging their swords more than anything else, but a few remained focused on the twins. Elrohir shot to injure, not to kill, but when one Man was shot in the arm and kept coming, Elrohir had no choice.
Estel was across the clearing from the twins, and could not help but watch them. Legolas had pulled Estel up to his branch, and was watching him as best he could while firing arrows as quickly as possible. In this manner Estel saw Elrohir turn slightly as Wilwarindi cried out when a sword clipped his hand. Estel saw the Man sneak up on his brothers, and he saw his arrow fly astray. He saw the Man sweep up a rock and raise it. Frozen, Estel could only watch as the Man brought the rock down on the back of Elladan's head, and Elladan fell.
"Elladan!" Elrohir cried, leaping to the ground to protect his fallen brother. Estel struggled, trying to go to them, but Legolas restrained him.
"No, I have to help him, let me go!" Estel protested.
"They would not want you to risk your life like this," Legolas replied, tightening his grip on Estel, and finally the boy stopped struggling. In the meantime, Elrohir had subdued the Man who hit Elladan with one swift punch, and was fighting off the rest of them, who had regrouped against the twins. The Elflings, from the treetops, fired as best they could, hitting their marks often, but not often enough.
"NO!" Estel cried, and began struggling anew as the Men retreated, taking Elladan and Elrohir, now both unconscious, with them.
"Estel, you mustn't do anything rash!" Legolas told him firmly, then leapt from the tree to the ground. "Swords!" he called out. "From your treetop perches and take your swords!" The Elflings obeyed him, too shocked to do much thinking themselves, descending as quickly as possible and taking their swords from their sheaths. As they did so Estel noticed Muriel, a look of thinly disguised terror on her face. Legolas led them out, Estel at his heels, and they pursued the Men.
This move had been anticipated, and before they were more than ten paces from their campsite, the Elves were ambushed. The Men came at them from all sides, swords at ready, and the air rang with the harsh sounds of metal meeting metal. Sparks flew as swords met. Estel fought with a fervor he had never before experienced, almost bloodlust, thinking only of his brothers. As he swung his sword down a Man met it, and Estel was shaken. His head snapped back, and his hair fell aside. "A mortal!" gasped the Man, and before he could recover Estel swung again--and cut off the Man's head.
Seeing that they were outnumbered, the Men fled, retreating into the trees. "Reconvene back at camp!" Legolas called out, and there were sounds of movement as the boys made their way back. Legolas added wood to the fire, and they could see at once that everything had been walked on and kicked about. The horses had spooked and fled, leaving broken tethers and yet more trampled ground. Most of the Elflings were shell-shocked and numb, wandering about aimlessly until Legolas told them to have a seat near the fire. Estel was not at all numb. He wanted to go after his brothers, but knew there were more important things to see to first. "Lysander, Naarie, Luinil, Karnil, Wilwarindi, Elemmiire," he muttered, locating each of the boys as he said their names. "Legolas," he said, approaching the eldest remaining Elf. "I am going to find Muriel; she was with us earlier and I must see if she fell."
Legolas nodded. "Don't go far, and be back as soon as possible."
Estel hurried into the trees, then paused. Here was the battle site, marked by the bodies of Men who would never be buried. The blood that stained the ground shone silver in the moonlight. And Estel heard something. . .he paused, then went to investigate. Muriel knelt in the dirt, retching. She, too, had been unprepared for true bloodshed. Estel knelt down beside and rubbed her back as she did, holding back her hair with his other hand. "It'll be all right, Muriel," he whispered to her. She nodded, then ducked again and was sick. Patiently Estel stayed beside her, until she stopped and looked to him. "Are you all right now?" he asked as gently as he could.
"I think so," she replied, nodding.
"Come on then." Estel stood, then hauled Muriel to her feet. "Here." Why he had water with him he would never know, but he offered her a drink and she took it, rinsing out her mouth. "We need to get back." Again she nodded, and he led her back to the fire.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked him. "After everything I did to you, I thought you would hate me."
"You don't need people to hate you," Estel replied. "And it is only chivalry to help a fallen warrior."
"When we get back to the others, are you going to tell them so they can laugh at me?"
"No."
"Why? I would do the same to you. I would not have sat beside you, Estel."
"I know."
They could talk no more, for they had returned to camp. The others had cleaned things up a bit and were milling about. The shock had worn off, and many cried now, or held each other, or looked around as though just waking from a dream. Legolas tried in vain to get their attention. No one was listening to him. "Hey!" Estel cried, standing on a treestump to be more easily noticed. "Every one quiet and listen up!" To his surprise, they did. Estel stepped down and motioned for Legolas to speak.
"All right. I know what just happened here was frightening for all of you. You should get some rest now. Estel and I will stand watch; the rest of you, get back to sleep. We will take further action in the morning."
Within minutes his orders were carried out. Estel saw that every one was all right, and had a place to sleep, then went once round the camp to be sure they were safe. He returned to the fire, wherebeside Legolas sat, and said, "You could take some rest, as well. I will be all right to watch alone."
"No," Legolas replied, shaking his head. "That is not a risk I would take." Estel nodded and sat beside the Elf.
"Tomorrow. . .what will we do?" asked Estel. "I mean, about my brothers."
"Well, here is what I think we ought to do: follow after the Men, but without malice. We reach their city and negotiate this feuding as best we can. In essence, we follow the twins' original plan through to completion," Legolas replied.
"Then that is what we will do; you are our leader now."
Legolas thought on this, then replied, "I suppose so." In the trees, a hare jumped on a twig, on it snapped. Estel's head shot up and his hands went to his bow, but Legolas stayed him with one hand on his wrist. "I will see what it is, you stay here," Legolas said, and was gone. Estel stared into the fire. Everything bad rushed upon him before he could stop it, and suddenly it all felt like too much. With his brothers gone, Estel felt completely alone in the world. He moved away from the fire and perched on a rock nearby, wrapping his arms around his knees.
Legolas returned a few minutes later, saying, "It was only a hare, nothing to--Estel?" He swept his gaze once over the site, and quickly found the boy. With caution Legolas approached him and carefully laid one hand on Estel's shoulder. "Estel--?"
"Don't touch me!" Estel scrabbled off the rock and back against a tree, watching warily.
"I do not wish to harm you," Legolas said. What was going on? Estel knew him, said he trusted Legolas. Why did he retreat? Again Legolas carefully approached the boy, and this time Estel did not shy away, but stood his ground. "Estel? What's wrong?" Legolas asked carefully.
For a moment there was no sound, then Estel made as if to run again, stopped himself, then sobbed and said, "I miss my brothers, and I fear for their safety!"
"Oh, Estel. Do not worry for them; Elladan and Elrohir are strong spirits. They will be all right."
Estel sniffed and nodded, rubbing at his tears with the backs of his wrists.
"Until we are with them again, I'll look after you."
"How could you even think of me at a time like this?" Estel asked, angry. "My brothers--" Before he could finish what he had started to say, Estel began to cry harder, shaking, trying to speak but unable. Legolas was unsure of what to do. He hesitated, then hugged the mortal. When Estel had stopped crying he drew away, and said, "Thank you. Please don't tell the others, they--" he clapped his hand over his mouth, as though he had said something best kept quiet.
"Estel?"
He shook his head. "No one knows, please don't tell, Legolas, please!"
"Estel. . .Elladan and Elrohir. . .they know about the Elflings, and the way they treat you. Why did you never tell them, Estel? They would not have judged you or blamed you for it."
"It was just something I had to do for myself," Estel whispered, as though afraid someone else would overhear. "I did not want them to worry."
"That is what family does, Estel. They worry about you."
"They shouldn't have to. It was easier for me when the worlds were separated. When I was with my brothers, not the Elflings, everything was all right. If Elladan and Elrohir knew, things would be different. This way, I always had some place good to go to. If I was upset, I could find my brothers and everything would be all right."
"So you allowed them to manipulate you, to play those tricks on you?"
Estel laughed. "You think it was only tricks?" He moved closer to the fire and lifted his tunic. The skin beneath was bruised and scarred. Legolas gasped; he had not expected that. After a moment Estel let his tunic fall again: he was ashamed of his scars, and it was cold out. When he spoke again, his voice was flat. "But it did not matter, because there were two worlds. I could always leave the bad one, even if I had to go back. It was all right, because even though there were so many terrible things, there was still goodness in the world. There was still a place where everything was happy. If I let those worlds merge, everything bad would be for ever."
Legolas could not respond at first, he was so shaken by Estel's story. Finally he said, "It is not I that will be leading the others into Eregion."
"But you must!" Estel cried, emotion returning to his voice. "If you do not- -"
"I will not, once they have come to their senses they will not listen to me; I am foreign to them and a stranger, thusly untrusted. Estel, you must lead them."
Alexis: Some people are just plain mean. Sometimes they treat others badly out of simple insecurity.
Leggylover03: Um. Right. Interesting. Hah, I'm just kidding. I can't tell you whether that is close to or far from the truth of the story, but you'll see.
*****
And nothing had changed. Lysander, after his momentary loyalty to Estel, was once again neutral. For three more days the Elflings continued to torture the boy in the most underhanded of manners, and for three days Estel continued to allow this, never letting Elladan and Elrohir know--as though they did not know already! The group became bored, and so Elrohir took to leading them, and he would call out assignments to them--snag a bit of this species of plant, yell out the name of the next bird you see, and so on. At dusk the twins would switch, and Elladan would lead the group, often well into the night. When they stopped, it was Elladan's hope, they would be too tired to be nasty. He was wrong, of course.
At a quarter past ten on the fifth day of the journey, Luinil sat watch on a log near the dying campfire. He was tired and eager for his watch to end. Wind stirred the leaves on the trees, and an owl in a nearby tree hooted, then silence reigned again. Though Luinil would never admit it, he was frightened. When a twig snapped, he jumped. "W-who's there?" he called out. There was no reply. The owl hooted once more, and flew into the night. That was all the warning they had.
In moments the camp was full of Men. They were not so tall as a fully- grown Elf, but certainly taller than the Elflings, armed with swords and seeming vicious. Luinil cried out and was on his feet at once, grabbing his bow from where it leaned against the log. Legolas, who had woken from a restless sleep at the sound of the twig snapping, scurried into a tree and called out, "Awake, awake, Elves of Imladris! Awake and fight!" as soon as he saw them stirring he nocked an arrow to his bow, drew it back and let it fly forward. It found its mark as Legolas fired a second time.
It was chaos. In Elvish Elladan cried, "To the trees! Take your bows and retreat to the treetops, fire from safety!" The Elflings were quick to obey, snatching their bows and quivers and rushing to the higher branches, grappling for handholds. Elladan and Elrohir stayed behind, on the ground, to be sure the young ones get up all right. Naarie slipped, but Elrohir caught him and gave him a shove back up into the trees. Estel faltered, uncertain, unwilling to seek safety while his brothers remained in danger. "Estel, do as I say!" Elladan shouted. Estel gasped, surprised, then nodded and in moments was in the lower branches of the same tree Legolas had chosen.
With the others safe and the arrows flying at the Men, Elladan and Elrohir turned to the trees. They had gotten their charges to safety and sought it themselves. "There," Elrohir said, motioning to the nearest tree even as he rushed to it, Elladan following. They skidded to a halt at the base of the trunk.
"You first," Elladan panted, and though he wished to Elrohir did not disobey. Elladan stood at the base, shooting any Man who came near, or tried to, as Elrohir climbed. Once he had reached a low but safe perch, only minutes after he had started his ascent, Elrohir called down, "Elladan, now you!" Elladan turned and began to climb as Elrohir kept him safe. The Men were angry now, most of them hacking away at the trees, damaging their swords more than anything else, but a few remained focused on the twins. Elrohir shot to injure, not to kill, but when one Man was shot in the arm and kept coming, Elrohir had no choice.
Estel was across the clearing from the twins, and could not help but watch them. Legolas had pulled Estel up to his branch, and was watching him as best he could while firing arrows as quickly as possible. In this manner Estel saw Elrohir turn slightly as Wilwarindi cried out when a sword clipped his hand. Estel saw the Man sneak up on his brothers, and he saw his arrow fly astray. He saw the Man sweep up a rock and raise it. Frozen, Estel could only watch as the Man brought the rock down on the back of Elladan's head, and Elladan fell.
"Elladan!" Elrohir cried, leaping to the ground to protect his fallen brother. Estel struggled, trying to go to them, but Legolas restrained him.
"No, I have to help him, let me go!" Estel protested.
"They would not want you to risk your life like this," Legolas replied, tightening his grip on Estel, and finally the boy stopped struggling. In the meantime, Elrohir had subdued the Man who hit Elladan with one swift punch, and was fighting off the rest of them, who had regrouped against the twins. The Elflings, from the treetops, fired as best they could, hitting their marks often, but not often enough.
"NO!" Estel cried, and began struggling anew as the Men retreated, taking Elladan and Elrohir, now both unconscious, with them.
"Estel, you mustn't do anything rash!" Legolas told him firmly, then leapt from the tree to the ground. "Swords!" he called out. "From your treetop perches and take your swords!" The Elflings obeyed him, too shocked to do much thinking themselves, descending as quickly as possible and taking their swords from their sheaths. As they did so Estel noticed Muriel, a look of thinly disguised terror on her face. Legolas led them out, Estel at his heels, and they pursued the Men.
This move had been anticipated, and before they were more than ten paces from their campsite, the Elves were ambushed. The Men came at them from all sides, swords at ready, and the air rang with the harsh sounds of metal meeting metal. Sparks flew as swords met. Estel fought with a fervor he had never before experienced, almost bloodlust, thinking only of his brothers. As he swung his sword down a Man met it, and Estel was shaken. His head snapped back, and his hair fell aside. "A mortal!" gasped the Man, and before he could recover Estel swung again--and cut off the Man's head.
Seeing that they were outnumbered, the Men fled, retreating into the trees. "Reconvene back at camp!" Legolas called out, and there were sounds of movement as the boys made their way back. Legolas added wood to the fire, and they could see at once that everything had been walked on and kicked about. The horses had spooked and fled, leaving broken tethers and yet more trampled ground. Most of the Elflings were shell-shocked and numb, wandering about aimlessly until Legolas told them to have a seat near the fire. Estel was not at all numb. He wanted to go after his brothers, but knew there were more important things to see to first. "Lysander, Naarie, Luinil, Karnil, Wilwarindi, Elemmiire," he muttered, locating each of the boys as he said their names. "Legolas," he said, approaching the eldest remaining Elf. "I am going to find Muriel; she was with us earlier and I must see if she fell."
Legolas nodded. "Don't go far, and be back as soon as possible."
Estel hurried into the trees, then paused. Here was the battle site, marked by the bodies of Men who would never be buried. The blood that stained the ground shone silver in the moonlight. And Estel heard something. . .he paused, then went to investigate. Muriel knelt in the dirt, retching. She, too, had been unprepared for true bloodshed. Estel knelt down beside and rubbed her back as she did, holding back her hair with his other hand. "It'll be all right, Muriel," he whispered to her. She nodded, then ducked again and was sick. Patiently Estel stayed beside her, until she stopped and looked to him. "Are you all right now?" he asked as gently as he could.
"I think so," she replied, nodding.
"Come on then." Estel stood, then hauled Muriel to her feet. "Here." Why he had water with him he would never know, but he offered her a drink and she took it, rinsing out her mouth. "We need to get back." Again she nodded, and he led her back to the fire.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked him. "After everything I did to you, I thought you would hate me."
"You don't need people to hate you," Estel replied. "And it is only chivalry to help a fallen warrior."
"When we get back to the others, are you going to tell them so they can laugh at me?"
"No."
"Why? I would do the same to you. I would not have sat beside you, Estel."
"I know."
They could talk no more, for they had returned to camp. The others had cleaned things up a bit and were milling about. The shock had worn off, and many cried now, or held each other, or looked around as though just waking from a dream. Legolas tried in vain to get their attention. No one was listening to him. "Hey!" Estel cried, standing on a treestump to be more easily noticed. "Every one quiet and listen up!" To his surprise, they did. Estel stepped down and motioned for Legolas to speak.
"All right. I know what just happened here was frightening for all of you. You should get some rest now. Estel and I will stand watch; the rest of you, get back to sleep. We will take further action in the morning."
Within minutes his orders were carried out. Estel saw that every one was all right, and had a place to sleep, then went once round the camp to be sure they were safe. He returned to the fire, wherebeside Legolas sat, and said, "You could take some rest, as well. I will be all right to watch alone."
"No," Legolas replied, shaking his head. "That is not a risk I would take." Estel nodded and sat beside the Elf.
"Tomorrow. . .what will we do?" asked Estel. "I mean, about my brothers."
"Well, here is what I think we ought to do: follow after the Men, but without malice. We reach their city and negotiate this feuding as best we can. In essence, we follow the twins' original plan through to completion," Legolas replied.
"Then that is what we will do; you are our leader now."
Legolas thought on this, then replied, "I suppose so." In the trees, a hare jumped on a twig, on it snapped. Estel's head shot up and his hands went to his bow, but Legolas stayed him with one hand on his wrist. "I will see what it is, you stay here," Legolas said, and was gone. Estel stared into the fire. Everything bad rushed upon him before he could stop it, and suddenly it all felt like too much. With his brothers gone, Estel felt completely alone in the world. He moved away from the fire and perched on a rock nearby, wrapping his arms around his knees.
Legolas returned a few minutes later, saying, "It was only a hare, nothing to--Estel?" He swept his gaze once over the site, and quickly found the boy. With caution Legolas approached him and carefully laid one hand on Estel's shoulder. "Estel--?"
"Don't touch me!" Estel scrabbled off the rock and back against a tree, watching warily.
"I do not wish to harm you," Legolas said. What was going on? Estel knew him, said he trusted Legolas. Why did he retreat? Again Legolas carefully approached the boy, and this time Estel did not shy away, but stood his ground. "Estel? What's wrong?" Legolas asked carefully.
For a moment there was no sound, then Estel made as if to run again, stopped himself, then sobbed and said, "I miss my brothers, and I fear for their safety!"
"Oh, Estel. Do not worry for them; Elladan and Elrohir are strong spirits. They will be all right."
Estel sniffed and nodded, rubbing at his tears with the backs of his wrists.
"Until we are with them again, I'll look after you."
"How could you even think of me at a time like this?" Estel asked, angry. "My brothers--" Before he could finish what he had started to say, Estel began to cry harder, shaking, trying to speak but unable. Legolas was unsure of what to do. He hesitated, then hugged the mortal. When Estel had stopped crying he drew away, and said, "Thank you. Please don't tell the others, they--" he clapped his hand over his mouth, as though he had said something best kept quiet.
"Estel?"
He shook his head. "No one knows, please don't tell, Legolas, please!"
"Estel. . .Elladan and Elrohir. . .they know about the Elflings, and the way they treat you. Why did you never tell them, Estel? They would not have judged you or blamed you for it."
"It was just something I had to do for myself," Estel whispered, as though afraid someone else would overhear. "I did not want them to worry."
"That is what family does, Estel. They worry about you."
"They shouldn't have to. It was easier for me when the worlds were separated. When I was with my brothers, not the Elflings, everything was all right. If Elladan and Elrohir knew, things would be different. This way, I always had some place good to go to. If I was upset, I could find my brothers and everything would be all right."
"So you allowed them to manipulate you, to play those tricks on you?"
Estel laughed. "You think it was only tricks?" He moved closer to the fire and lifted his tunic. The skin beneath was bruised and scarred. Legolas gasped; he had not expected that. After a moment Estel let his tunic fall again: he was ashamed of his scars, and it was cold out. When he spoke again, his voice was flat. "But it did not matter, because there were two worlds. I could always leave the bad one, even if I had to go back. It was all right, because even though there were so many terrible things, there was still goodness in the world. There was still a place where everything was happy. If I let those worlds merge, everything bad would be for ever."
Legolas could not respond at first, he was so shaken by Estel's story. Finally he said, "It is not I that will be leading the others into Eregion."
"But you must!" Estel cried, emotion returning to his voice. "If you do not- -"
"I will not, once they have come to their senses they will not listen to me; I am foreign to them and a stranger, thusly untrusted. Estel, you must lead them."
