Summary: Another 'How Aragorn and Legolas meet' story. Not Slash.
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine… The story idea is not original… I just hope you like it
A/N 1) Well this is a fairly long chapter… Hence it took me quite a while to type it (and be motivated to type it). Still despite it being a long chapter this is mainly a chapter of interaction between Estel (Aragorn) and Elladan (Dan) with a lot less Legolas than usual. Hope you all still like it though.
A/N 2) '…' shows thoughts
"…" shows spoken words
~*~
Chapter 11
Estel rode between Elrohir and Legolas, with Elladan riding on the other side of his twin. After they had slowed the horses the four spent their time changing stories and songs as well as listening to the twins bantering. As first Estel felt guilty for feeling so free and excited though he quickly forgot his apprehension and found himself enjoying the freedom.
When they arrived at the campsite Estel was silenced by the beauty of the place. Behind his back the three elves swapped grins well pleased by his reaction. From what they knew he was the first mortal in a long time to come to this place. The glade where they had decided to stay had become slightly overgrown with lack of use but this was quickly remedied.
Elladan gave Estel the task of looking after the horses, as Elrohir began to light the fire and prepare the meal, and he and Legolas set up some structures to sleep under. The work was swiftly completed when they realised Estel was still missing with the horses. A soft horse's snort came from nearby and the three elves instinctively moved towards it. Nearby the river's edge they found the four horses as well as a drenched Estel making his way out of the river a little further downstream.
"What happened Estel?" asked Legolas.
"I went swimming. Can't you tell?" replied Estel trying to ignore the cold that he could feel settling in. The river had begun to thaw a few weeks ago but it was still cold with winter's bite not yet dissipated. A part of him wanted to return to camp but he forced it aside and made to continue the task he had been allocated.
"Estel go sit by the fire," said Elladan suddenly appearing beside his brother and quickly removing the brush from his hand. Seeing Estel about to argue he continued "Legolas can brush down his horse and yours seeing as it was his horse that decided to push you in." Estel swung round to look at the horses, arms folded and an eyebrow raised. He had known one of the horses had pushed him in though not – of course – which one as he'd been watching some fish swim past at the time.
Legolas and Elrohir were having a hard time not laughing at the drenched human and how he had got into the state he was currently in. Taking the brush from Elladan Legolas walked towards his horse. "Perhaps if your brother washed more often the horses would not have to force him into the river to get rid of the smell," he said as he begun to brush the horse down. It was a light hearted tease that none took offense to and that caused Elrohir to start laughing. Watching his twin laugh uncontrollably soon also had Elladan laughing, with Estel and Legolas joining in too.
At last catching their breathe Estel turned to his eldest brother. "How did you know which horse pushed me in?" he asked hoping desperately it wasn't elven intuition as it seemed and impressive skill to have.
"Are you cold?" asked Elladan in return, concern for his little brother momentarily divided between care and not wanting to teach Estel to much to soon. Estel shook his head hoping that his body would not betray him. "Very well," said Elladan, "Come to the river's edge and tell me what you see. Legolas you still have most of two horses to brush down and Ro I'm sure Estel would want something to eat that isn't entirely burnt for his birthday dinner." The other two elves looked slightly disappointed that they could not watch this first lesson but when the brothers' backs were turned Legolas gestured he would listen and pass on what happened to Elrohir later. Somewhat appeased Elrohir went to watch the meal.
Elladan heard Elrohir make his way back to the fire and Legolas resume brushing down his horse. They were both making more noise than usual but he doubted that Estel noticed. He was surprised at how enthusiastic his little brother was about learning such a skill. He called Estel over, "Now Estel tell me what you see here."
Estel looked around him. There was nothing, maybe it was an elvish instinct after all. His stomach gave a sad little lurch, another thing he would never be any good at. 'Only edan' he thought to himself chanting it over to himself as he pretended to look for what his brother had seen. Elladan had noticed the subtle change in Estel. He wondered what had happened and if it happened more often without him realising it. "Estel can you tell me what I saw that let me know you were pushed into the river?"
Not looking ay his brother Estel shook his head. 'This is not good' thought Elladan and decided to begin with the basics. "This is not elvish magic Estel. It's fitting the pieces together to tell you a story. To tell you what has happened. You need to look at the little parts to see the whole picture. In time you'll be able to look at the big scene before you and know where to look for cues." He was rewarded with a small smile and decided to continue.
"Firstly even if I hadn't been able to tell you were being sarcastic when you said you went swimming I could tell you were either pushed in or you fell."
"How?" asked Estel getting excited once more.
"Do you normally wear your boots and tunic when you swim?" asked Elladan. A soft Oh and a furiously blushing brother was the result of this observation. Cursing himself inwardly Elladan rested his hands on his brother's shoulders. "Estel," he spoke gently not wanting to further upset his brother, "It was a simple clue. Something so obvious that it is more easily overlooked. I didn't even think about it until we started this conversation instead I relied on your tone of voice. But sometimes such a clue isn't available."
Estel smiled in spite of himself. Though he still believed elves to be infallible, and that the most infallible were his family, it was nice that his brother had overlooked the obvious too. "What next?"
"Not what next, what else." Seeing he had confused his brother Elladan tried a different way of explaining. "You shouldn't just use one piece of evidence. Sometimes it will be all you have to lead you to the next or to give you hope for a certain outcome yet the more clues the more you can be sure. These are your foot prints aren't they?"
Estel nodded they looked to be his; he turned to compare these with his brother's and found only the lightest indent in the mud. Not even enough to be recognisable as a print. Watching, Elladan was pleased with his Estel's attempts and smiled recognising his brother's disappointment. "We'll teach you to track elves another day," he promised. "For now I want you to follow your own tracks to the rivers edge. And to stop you from cheating and just heading in the same general direction I want you to step into each print."
It took Estel a few moments to find his next footprint though he picked up the idea quickly and was soon half a pace from the water. Elladan smiled. He hadn't dared to hope Estel would be so good at tracking though he was well pleased with what he had seen. But he wasn't really surprised when considering some of the things his grandmother had foreseen in her mirror pool.
"Do you see how the ground has broken away here?" Estel nodded but Elladan wasn't convinced that he know what was being looked for. "See how this tree's roots now sit out just above the water?" Another nod. "Do you see any other of its roots doing likewise?" A shake of the head this time. "Good I won't go into detail at this moment but trust me when I say that this area would support a constant weight but collapse if someone was moving around a lot." They both turned at the sound of Legolas laughing but the blonde elf had his back to them. Estel looked at his friend in puzzlement and turned his attention back to the lesson. Elladan felt a smile pull at his lips. He hadn't found it so funny at the time but a couple of hundred years made his own trip into the Bruinen seem somewhat more humorous.
"Dan look," cried Estel causing Elladan to swing round his hand instinctively moving to where his sword hung before he realised there was no fear in his brothers voice. He moved to where Estel was standing. "Look. Horse hoof marks and I hadn't lead the horses down to the water before I was pushed in. That means one of the horses must have come down behind me."
Smiling Dan continued to help unravel the mystery. "Can you tell me what it was that made me realize it was Legolas' horse that pushed you in?" Instead of pausing or shaking his head Estel went foraging for clues. Legolas stopped pretending to brush Estel's horse preferring to watch intently and Elladan could feel his twin's presence nearby.
It was a while before Estel came to his brother red faced in defeat, unable to find any further clues. "Estel you already found the only clue. You just didn't know how to interpret it." Estel looked at his eldest brother like he had grown a second head and Elladan wondered where his twin was. 'He's just new to this. It's your job to teach him' he reminded himself. "Sometimes you need to be able to discount some possibilities. For instance, what similarities are there between Ro and I and our mounts?" He could hear Legolas stifling a laugh.
"You all have brown hair, you are all stubborn when you don't want to do something." Elladan raised an eyebrow. "You all have a liking for sweet things," continued Estel hurriedly.
"You sneaked down to their births. What are they?" prompted Elladan.
"Difficult," Estel smirked and they both heard Legolas turn his laughter into a coughing fit. "I know," said Estel looking back at his brother. "They are twins. Not that common in horses and very rare in elves."
Elladan smiled broadly this time. He'd been waiting for Estel to get to that. "How do twins perform mischief?"
"In pairs"
"Good. Now how many horses pushed you into the river?"
"One."
"So?"
"So according to your logic it couldn't have been either yours or Ro's mounts because only one horse pushed me in."
"Exactly. Although I don't understand what you mean by my logic."
"Couldn't one have been a lookout?" asked Estel.
"That is just to logical Estel. We are left with two of the four original suspects. Tell me about your horse," suggested Elladan.
"She's a little slower than yours and Ro's, but probably only because she is slightly more careful about where she puts her hooves."
"Is she loyal?" interrupted Elladan.
"Very."
"Would she push someone into the river?"
"If I asked."
"Would she push you into the water?"
"Of course not," said Estel indignant at such a thought.
"Then I think we have an answer."
Estel smiled at his brother then turned to his friend's horse. "I know horses can't speak but I suppose I should apologise for ignoring you. Though I wouldn't mind if next time you decided not to bath me in the river." The horse nickered softly and Estel reached up to rub its nose- a truce apparently reached. All was peaceful for a moment until Estel sneezed.
"Do you have a cold?" asked Elladan once more concerned primarily for his little brother's health.
"No Dan," whispered Estel his eyes lowered so he didn't have to meet the gaze of his brother.
"I don't believe you," said Elladan. "Ro go build up the fire and get some dry clothes for Estel and a blanket. We should take you to back to Ada but it's getting to late to ride back safely and I think you would want to spend a night out with us," he said looking back to his brother who he now realised was trying not to shiver. Legolas realising there was little he could do had begun to brush down the twins' mounts. Elladan smiled his thanks and lead Estel back to their camp.
…
Dinner was a quiet meal and Legolas had to poke Estel several times to keep him from falling asleep with his head in his food. Eventually Estel had eaten enough and was sent to bed. As the three elves organised the night's watches – more out of habit than threat – they heard a soft whisper from the shelter where Estel lay. "Hannon le. This has been the best birthday ever."
The three swapped smiles over the fire and Elrohir and Legolas moved across to their bed rolls to await their turns of keeping watch.
~*~
A/N 3) Elvish used in the chapter
Ada – dad, daddy
Hannon le – thank you
A/N 4) There is only one chapter to go in this story now… and yes it will have more Legolas in it. I hope to have it up here sometime just before new years.
Oh and Thank you to all who have reviewed my story so far. Merry Christmas (especially to any Germans celebrating on the 24th)
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine… The story idea is not original… I just hope you like it
A/N 1) Well this is a fairly long chapter… Hence it took me quite a while to type it (and be motivated to type it). Still despite it being a long chapter this is mainly a chapter of interaction between Estel (Aragorn) and Elladan (Dan) with a lot less Legolas than usual. Hope you all still like it though.
A/N 2) '…' shows thoughts
"…" shows spoken words
~*~
Chapter 11
Estel rode between Elrohir and Legolas, with Elladan riding on the other side of his twin. After they had slowed the horses the four spent their time changing stories and songs as well as listening to the twins bantering. As first Estel felt guilty for feeling so free and excited though he quickly forgot his apprehension and found himself enjoying the freedom.
When they arrived at the campsite Estel was silenced by the beauty of the place. Behind his back the three elves swapped grins well pleased by his reaction. From what they knew he was the first mortal in a long time to come to this place. The glade where they had decided to stay had become slightly overgrown with lack of use but this was quickly remedied.
Elladan gave Estel the task of looking after the horses, as Elrohir began to light the fire and prepare the meal, and he and Legolas set up some structures to sleep under. The work was swiftly completed when they realised Estel was still missing with the horses. A soft horse's snort came from nearby and the three elves instinctively moved towards it. Nearby the river's edge they found the four horses as well as a drenched Estel making his way out of the river a little further downstream.
"What happened Estel?" asked Legolas.
"I went swimming. Can't you tell?" replied Estel trying to ignore the cold that he could feel settling in. The river had begun to thaw a few weeks ago but it was still cold with winter's bite not yet dissipated. A part of him wanted to return to camp but he forced it aside and made to continue the task he had been allocated.
"Estel go sit by the fire," said Elladan suddenly appearing beside his brother and quickly removing the brush from his hand. Seeing Estel about to argue he continued "Legolas can brush down his horse and yours seeing as it was his horse that decided to push you in." Estel swung round to look at the horses, arms folded and an eyebrow raised. He had known one of the horses had pushed him in though not – of course – which one as he'd been watching some fish swim past at the time.
Legolas and Elrohir were having a hard time not laughing at the drenched human and how he had got into the state he was currently in. Taking the brush from Elladan Legolas walked towards his horse. "Perhaps if your brother washed more often the horses would not have to force him into the river to get rid of the smell," he said as he begun to brush the horse down. It was a light hearted tease that none took offense to and that caused Elrohir to start laughing. Watching his twin laugh uncontrollably soon also had Elladan laughing, with Estel and Legolas joining in too.
At last catching their breathe Estel turned to his eldest brother. "How did you know which horse pushed me in?" he asked hoping desperately it wasn't elven intuition as it seemed and impressive skill to have.
"Are you cold?" asked Elladan in return, concern for his little brother momentarily divided between care and not wanting to teach Estel to much to soon. Estel shook his head hoping that his body would not betray him. "Very well," said Elladan, "Come to the river's edge and tell me what you see. Legolas you still have most of two horses to brush down and Ro I'm sure Estel would want something to eat that isn't entirely burnt for his birthday dinner." The other two elves looked slightly disappointed that they could not watch this first lesson but when the brothers' backs were turned Legolas gestured he would listen and pass on what happened to Elrohir later. Somewhat appeased Elrohir went to watch the meal.
Elladan heard Elrohir make his way back to the fire and Legolas resume brushing down his horse. They were both making more noise than usual but he doubted that Estel noticed. He was surprised at how enthusiastic his little brother was about learning such a skill. He called Estel over, "Now Estel tell me what you see here."
Estel looked around him. There was nothing, maybe it was an elvish instinct after all. His stomach gave a sad little lurch, another thing he would never be any good at. 'Only edan' he thought to himself chanting it over to himself as he pretended to look for what his brother had seen. Elladan had noticed the subtle change in Estel. He wondered what had happened and if it happened more often without him realising it. "Estel can you tell me what I saw that let me know you were pushed into the river?"
Not looking ay his brother Estel shook his head. 'This is not good' thought Elladan and decided to begin with the basics. "This is not elvish magic Estel. It's fitting the pieces together to tell you a story. To tell you what has happened. You need to look at the little parts to see the whole picture. In time you'll be able to look at the big scene before you and know where to look for cues." He was rewarded with a small smile and decided to continue.
"Firstly even if I hadn't been able to tell you were being sarcastic when you said you went swimming I could tell you were either pushed in or you fell."
"How?" asked Estel getting excited once more.
"Do you normally wear your boots and tunic when you swim?" asked Elladan. A soft Oh and a furiously blushing brother was the result of this observation. Cursing himself inwardly Elladan rested his hands on his brother's shoulders. "Estel," he spoke gently not wanting to further upset his brother, "It was a simple clue. Something so obvious that it is more easily overlooked. I didn't even think about it until we started this conversation instead I relied on your tone of voice. But sometimes such a clue isn't available."
Estel smiled in spite of himself. Though he still believed elves to be infallible, and that the most infallible were his family, it was nice that his brother had overlooked the obvious too. "What next?"
"Not what next, what else." Seeing he had confused his brother Elladan tried a different way of explaining. "You shouldn't just use one piece of evidence. Sometimes it will be all you have to lead you to the next or to give you hope for a certain outcome yet the more clues the more you can be sure. These are your foot prints aren't they?"
Estel nodded they looked to be his; he turned to compare these with his brother's and found only the lightest indent in the mud. Not even enough to be recognisable as a print. Watching, Elladan was pleased with his Estel's attempts and smiled recognising his brother's disappointment. "We'll teach you to track elves another day," he promised. "For now I want you to follow your own tracks to the rivers edge. And to stop you from cheating and just heading in the same general direction I want you to step into each print."
It took Estel a few moments to find his next footprint though he picked up the idea quickly and was soon half a pace from the water. Elladan smiled. He hadn't dared to hope Estel would be so good at tracking though he was well pleased with what he had seen. But he wasn't really surprised when considering some of the things his grandmother had foreseen in her mirror pool.
"Do you see how the ground has broken away here?" Estel nodded but Elladan wasn't convinced that he know what was being looked for. "See how this tree's roots now sit out just above the water?" Another nod. "Do you see any other of its roots doing likewise?" A shake of the head this time. "Good I won't go into detail at this moment but trust me when I say that this area would support a constant weight but collapse if someone was moving around a lot." They both turned at the sound of Legolas laughing but the blonde elf had his back to them. Estel looked at his friend in puzzlement and turned his attention back to the lesson. Elladan felt a smile pull at his lips. He hadn't found it so funny at the time but a couple of hundred years made his own trip into the Bruinen seem somewhat more humorous.
"Dan look," cried Estel causing Elladan to swing round his hand instinctively moving to where his sword hung before he realised there was no fear in his brothers voice. He moved to where Estel was standing. "Look. Horse hoof marks and I hadn't lead the horses down to the water before I was pushed in. That means one of the horses must have come down behind me."
Smiling Dan continued to help unravel the mystery. "Can you tell me what it was that made me realize it was Legolas' horse that pushed you in?" Instead of pausing or shaking his head Estel went foraging for clues. Legolas stopped pretending to brush Estel's horse preferring to watch intently and Elladan could feel his twin's presence nearby.
It was a while before Estel came to his brother red faced in defeat, unable to find any further clues. "Estel you already found the only clue. You just didn't know how to interpret it." Estel looked at his eldest brother like he had grown a second head and Elladan wondered where his twin was. 'He's just new to this. It's your job to teach him' he reminded himself. "Sometimes you need to be able to discount some possibilities. For instance, what similarities are there between Ro and I and our mounts?" He could hear Legolas stifling a laugh.
"You all have brown hair, you are all stubborn when you don't want to do something." Elladan raised an eyebrow. "You all have a liking for sweet things," continued Estel hurriedly.
"You sneaked down to their births. What are they?" prompted Elladan.
"Difficult," Estel smirked and they both heard Legolas turn his laughter into a coughing fit. "I know," said Estel looking back at his brother. "They are twins. Not that common in horses and very rare in elves."
Elladan smiled broadly this time. He'd been waiting for Estel to get to that. "How do twins perform mischief?"
"In pairs"
"Good. Now how many horses pushed you into the river?"
"One."
"So?"
"So according to your logic it couldn't have been either yours or Ro's mounts because only one horse pushed me in."
"Exactly. Although I don't understand what you mean by my logic."
"Couldn't one have been a lookout?" asked Estel.
"That is just to logical Estel. We are left with two of the four original suspects. Tell me about your horse," suggested Elladan.
"She's a little slower than yours and Ro's, but probably only because she is slightly more careful about where she puts her hooves."
"Is she loyal?" interrupted Elladan.
"Very."
"Would she push someone into the river?"
"If I asked."
"Would she push you into the water?"
"Of course not," said Estel indignant at such a thought.
"Then I think we have an answer."
Estel smiled at his brother then turned to his friend's horse. "I know horses can't speak but I suppose I should apologise for ignoring you. Though I wouldn't mind if next time you decided not to bath me in the river." The horse nickered softly and Estel reached up to rub its nose- a truce apparently reached. All was peaceful for a moment until Estel sneezed.
"Do you have a cold?" asked Elladan once more concerned primarily for his little brother's health.
"No Dan," whispered Estel his eyes lowered so he didn't have to meet the gaze of his brother.
"I don't believe you," said Elladan. "Ro go build up the fire and get some dry clothes for Estel and a blanket. We should take you to back to Ada but it's getting to late to ride back safely and I think you would want to spend a night out with us," he said looking back to his brother who he now realised was trying not to shiver. Legolas realising there was little he could do had begun to brush down the twins' mounts. Elladan smiled his thanks and lead Estel back to their camp.
…
Dinner was a quiet meal and Legolas had to poke Estel several times to keep him from falling asleep with his head in his food. Eventually Estel had eaten enough and was sent to bed. As the three elves organised the night's watches – more out of habit than threat – they heard a soft whisper from the shelter where Estel lay. "Hannon le. This has been the best birthday ever."
The three swapped smiles over the fire and Elrohir and Legolas moved across to their bed rolls to await their turns of keeping watch.
~*~
A/N 3) Elvish used in the chapter
Ada – dad, daddy
Hannon le – thank you
A/N 4) There is only one chapter to go in this story now… and yes it will have more Legolas in it. I hope to have it up here sometime just before new years.
Oh and Thank you to all who have reviewed my story so far. Merry Christmas (especially to any Germans celebrating on the 24th)