For those of you who love action and angst, please bear with this one last light-hearted chapter featuring elf-hormones manifesting themselves at awkward moments. Bloody scene coming up soon.
Kitsune: Well, since Estel wanted his hair colored, I suppose it is not outside the realm of possibility that a future story will feature a green-haired Estel—or perhaps, if he goes enough days without bathing, his hair will turn green from mold!
Farflung: Yep, I can imagine those three Elves millennia in the future still playing tricks on each other. Once they hit the Undying Lands, that place is gonna rock!
Jebb: Thank you for your compliments re the 'homage' and the dialogue.
Grumpy: Ooh, love irony: "Well isn't it a good thing that someone showed Estel how to climb down a trellis."
Gwil: As you now know from the second chapter, Anomen did manage to evade the twins' revenge, but as you will see in the chapters that follow this one, that doesn't mean that he evaded trouble.
Dragonfly: I am glad that so far my picture of Estel hasn't violated your sense of what a young Aragorn would have been like.
Ky: Go Ky!
Karri: I absolutely promise that after I conclude this chapter I will back up a few centuries and do another story about a much younger Anomen, more as he was when he first arrived in Rivendell. I swear on the Silmaril of Beren.
Vocabulary
Malthenêl—'Golden Star'
Anomen sighed with pleasure. It was so good to be free of the confines of Rivendell. He had enjoyed working with the elflings and novices—and he knew that it was an honorable occupation—but Anomen was a wanderer at heart. If he was compelled to stay in one place for too long, he was prone to melancholy. This did not change the fact that he was deeply attached to the denizens of Imladris—even that most recent of residents, Estel.
Estel! He was a dear child, but he could wear one out before the noon meal—nay, before breakfast! Particularly when he had already deprived Anomen of a good night's sleep by crawling into the Elf's bed. Anomen shuddered. Even though Estel was not allowed in his bed unless the child had bathed, the little human still managed to be stinky. Plus, he would not stay still. Either his mouth was working, or he was kicking and thrashing about. No, it was definitely no fun sharing a bed with Estel. Now, one of those elf-maidens perhaps….
"Aaargh, what am I thinking!?" Anomen shouted aloud. Up ahead, Elladan and Elrohir drew their horses to a halt and twisted about to look back at him.
"Are you alright, Anomen?" asked Elladan.
"No! I mean, yes! I mean, it is nothing of importance!"
"You cried aloud because of nothing of importance?" said Elrohir skeptically.
"Well," admitted Anomen, "sometimes I have the oddest thoughts."
"Ah," said Elladan shrewdly, "would these thoughts have anything to do with elf-maidens?"
Amazed, Anomen stared at him. "Why, uh, yes, they do have something to do with elf-maidens! I think of them at the strangest times and, ah, in the strangest manner. I would rather," he hastily added, "not go into detail."
The twins nodded with understanding.
"I have been thinking," confessed Elrohir, "that when we return to Rivendell, I might ask Glorfindel's niece, Malthenêl, if she would like to go riding with me."
"Riding?" said Elladan.
"Yes, riding—on a horse! On separate horses!"
"As she is Glorfindel's niece," warned Anomen, "you'd best be sure that it's a ride on separate horses!"
"Oh, I will! I will!"
"Of course," said Elladan, "our parents couldn't always have ridden on separate horses—else we wouldn't be here."
"Elladan!" protested Elrohir and Anomen simultaneously.
"Well, it's true," said Elladan stubbornly. "You know perfectly well where baby elflings come from!—and not from tree crotches, neither, no matter what our old nursemaid said."
"Oh, yes," scoffed Elrohir, "I've known for several centuries, ever since I caught Glorfindel in the garden with—um, ever since I had a long talk with Glorfindel."
"You never mentioned this talk to me," complained Elladan.
"Uh, well, Glorfindel was, ah, a little irate, and after he explained matters, he said that, if I ever wanted any little elflings of my own, I should just keep the thing—uh, things—to myself. Looked very fierce when he said that, and he was fingering his blade."
"You do mean his knife, I hope," said Elladan.
"Of course," said Elrohir indignantly. "Honestly!"
"Have you ever wondered where Istari come from?" said Anomen thoughtfully. "Do they have mothers and fathers? Because, if they do, then Mithrandir must have—"
"Anomen!" objected Elladan and Elrohir.
"Well, you don't suppose he sprang from a tree crotch, do you!?"
"But I have never seen a female wizard? Have you?" challenged Elladan.
"No, but the Istari came from the over the sea, from the Undying Lands to the west. Perhaps the female wizards remained behind."
"True," said Elrohir. "The next time Mithrandir takes a bath—"
"Elrohir," yelped Elladan, "you may have gotten away from Glorfindel, but I am certain that you will indeed never have any elflings of your own if Mithrandir were to catch you at your game! The spell he would cast on you, ugh, I don't want to think of it!" Elladan blanched.
Elrohir contemplated the loss or bizarre transformation of certain body parts and came to the reluctant conclusion that his brother was right. It would be too risky to pry into Mithrandir's private parts—uh, life.
"Very well," he sighed. "At any event, just learning about elf-maiden anatomy will probably keep us occupied for a century or so." He brightened. "Say, the pool near the lower waterfall, don't the elf-maidens congregate there?"
"Yes?" said Elladan cautiously.
"Practiced scouts such as we are, surely the three of us could creep near without being caught."
"Oh, I don't know about that," warned Anomen. "Did you know that the matron of elf-maidens is sister to the head cook?"
"Sister to the head cook!"
"Aye, and if she is similarly talented, I doubt we could escape her surveillance—or the ensuing punishment. We'll lose more than our hair!"
Elrohir groaned. "Oh, this is going to be such a long century."
His two companions nodded sympathetically. Morosely, they urged their horses onward.
Whilst this conversation was taking place, their much younger foster-brother was suffering from no such complicated thoughts and emotions. His was a straightforward task: to stay on the trail of Anomen and the twins. Since the Elves were on horseback, they were not hard to track. Moreover, they were traveling slowly, so as not to miss any Orc or other signs. Even though Estel was on foot, he did not fear being unable to keep up with them.
He did have one concern. He had packed cheese and bread, but, as he had the appetite of a vigorous and growing boy, he had eaten his way through these provisions before noon that very day. He picked any berries that he knew to be edible, but, still, as the sun drew near to the western horizon, he was fair starving. He was also a little troubled by thirst. He had not thought to bring a water flask. He drank at every stream he came to, but sometimes these water sources were inconveniently far apart. He resolved to be better prepared next time. For now, he turned all his energy to solving his current problem.
As dusk drew near, the three Elves picked out a good camping spot, one both sheltered and near water, and built a fire. Elladan and Anomen had each bagged a squirrel as they rode, and Elrohir set about preparing a meal. Soon, strips of squirrel meat were sizzling over the fire, and the savory odor wafted through the forest. Estel left off searching for hoof prints and began to follow his nose.
Before too long, he was crouched in the undergrowth, licking his lips as he watched the Elves enjoying a leisurely meal. Not only did they have squirrel meat, but they had bread, fruit, and cheese. A water flask lay near each Elf.
Anomen, partly reclining on one elbow, had just finished one strip of meat and sat up to reach for another. The piece that he had had his eye on was gone. Elladan or Elrohir must have gotten that one. Well, he would just have to wait for another one to cook. He turned back to eat the wedge of cheese he had just sliced from the wheel. Where had he laid it? He searched about and then looked suspiciously over at Elrohir and Elladan. But Elladan was enjoying an apple, and Elrohir was eating a slice of bread. No doubt he had overlooked the cheese in the dark. He cut another slice and laid it on top of a piece of bread. Then he turned back to check the doneness of the meat. No meat hung above the fire. Anomen wrinkled his forehead in bewilderment. He laid two more strips of meat on the spit above the fire and turned to pick up his bread and cheese. Gone!
"Um, Elladan, Elrohir, you have forgiven me for dying your hair, haven't you?"
"Yes, of course, Anomen," replied Elrohir.
"We're even now," added Elladan.
"So you wouldn't feel the need to play any tricks on me tonight, would you?"
"Oh, no," Elrohir assured him. "As long as we are on this sortie together, we won't try anything. It is true," he continued, "that I cannot guarantee that we will never play another trick on you, but you need have no fear for the time being."
Anomen rubbed his hand over his face and turned back to the fire. He half expected that the meat would have once again vanished, but the two strips, now cooked, still hung over the fire. Perhaps the other pieces had fallen into the fire, and mayhap a small, inconspicuous animal had dragged off the bread and cheese. Hungrily, Anomen devoured the two strips of meat that were left to him.
"Anomen," scolded Elladan, "I know we are on patrol, but that is no reason to bolt your food so! We are Elves, not Dwarves!"
"My pardon, Elladan," said a chastened Anomen, who was not the one who typically had to be chided for his table manners. He looked about for his water flask. Where had he laid it? After searching fruitlessly for several minutes, he asked Elrohir if he might sip from his flask.
"Have you mislaid your flask?"
"Yes," admitted Anomen, "I seem to have done so."
Elrohir grinned. "Those elf-maidens have distracted you! Very well, here's my flask. When you said 'share and share alike', I had no idea that you meant to be so literal!"
After drinking a little from the flask, Anomen arose and went behind a tree briefly. When he returned, he stooped over the pile of bedrolls that the three elves had cast to one side as they made camp. There was Elrohir's roll, and there was Elladan's, but where was his? After searching for awhile, Anomen resigned himself to the thought that he would have to sleep rolled up in his cloak. He decided not to mention anything to Elladan and Elrohir. Even if either twin were carrying a spare blanket, it would not be worth the gibes he would have to endure. Instead, he offered to take the first watch, hoping thereby that his companions would not notice that he had no bedroll. Tomorrow, he resolved, he would watch his possessions with the avidity of a Dwarf!
A little ways from the camp, a very satisfied Estel was rolling himself up in Anomen's blankets. He had eaten two strips of meat and had set aside two pieces of cheese and one slice of bread for breakfast. He had, moreover, secured a water flask. Oh, yes, he had done very well for himself, and he looked forward with great anticipation to the adventures that the morrow would bring.