AN: Part of the trouble with this story is how to make Elladan and Elrohir separate characters with their own personalities. My solution to this was grossly unfair: I made Elladan the thinker, and Elrohir the doer. Psychologically speaking, my Elladan is the dominant twin. This doesn't so much mean that he always goes first, but rather that he always gets the last word. It's not really fair to Elrohir, but I had to split them somehow.
* * * * * *
~The Hills~
Lord Elrond ran a hand across his brow. The fire that had ignited in this stomach upon receiving his premonition so many hours earlier had burnt down to a gaping, cold hole that was slowly encroaching on the rest of his body. Glorfindel drew his horse up beside Elrond's and looked deep into his friend's eyes. The gaze Elrond returned was one of desolation.
"Mellon nin," Glorfindel's voice was full. "You must focus. You have a strong bond with Celebrían. You must find it and follow it."
"You would think," Lord Elrond replied with some bitterness, "that I would at least sense the orcs."
"My lord Elrond," Glorfindel's tone was sharper now. "You will focus and we will find her."
Elrond looked startled at his friend's sharp tone. He drew himself up straight and took a deep breath. His eyes looked far away, and while they did not move, it looked as though they were ranging up and down the hillside. After several moments, Elrond expelled his breath, blinked, and indicated the direction in which they would ride.
* * * * *
"Well, now what?" Elrohir asked. "We've gone opposite ways to Ada and Lord
Glorfindel; what is next?"
"I suppose we hunt," Elladan said. "You know, look for tracks, read the bushes,
that sort of thing."
"But we've never seen orcs!" Elrohir exclaimed. "Only heard stories of them."
"I do not think this will be the type of hunt where we use our eyes, toron nin,"
Elladan said. "Look with your heart, and when you find something abhorrent,
ride towards it."
Elrohir made a face, and Elladan nodded at him sympathetically. Their father and the other elves at Rivendell went to great extremes to ensure that none of Elrond's children ever encountered mental unpleasantries. Once, when Elrond had been telling them about the fall of Gil-galad, the twins had received a flash from their father's mind that neither had soon forgotten. And now they planned to actively seek it, and follow it when they found it.
"Come," said Elladan, his hand extended. "It will be easier if we look together."
Elrohir gladly clasped his brother's hand and immediately felt stronger. All elves were connected to each other, and those with close familial, or in cases such as Elrond and Celebrían, emotional ties, often shared a special rapport. The bond between Elladan and Elrohir went even deeper and when magnified by touch, was powerful indeed. Linked together, they left their bodies in the glade with their horses and soared up above the mountains, seeking for something they did not want to find and had no choice but to locate. If they had not been so linked and strengthened, the jolt that accompanied their discovery might have unseated them. Both cried out involuntarily, and Elladan, who often took the lead when they were bonded, retched.
"Are you all right?" Elrohir asked concernedly.
"Yes." Elladan said shortly reaching for his flask and taking a drink, which he
spat on the ground. "Let us ride."
* * * * *
Elrond's long sight led them perhaps to the remains of an orc encampment. Though technically they were in The Wild and not in the protected confines of Rivendell, it angered Elrond to find a spot spoilt by orc filth. The trees had been hacked down and burnt, and the grass was blackened and smoking, and the smell was truly appalling.
What angered Elrond all the more was that the orcs were gone, and the famed long sightedness of Elrond Peredhel had led him to an empty campsite. Seeing that the Lord of Imladris was too immersed in self-flagellation to function rationally, Glorfindel rode around the perimeter in search of the trail. He found it easily as orcs are not know for their skills in woodcraft, and his heart sank. It led back the way they had come. Sighing in frustration, Glorfindel turned his horse and called out to Lord Elrond.
* * * * *
"Why could Ada not sense the orcs?" Elrohir asked, breaking a long silence. "I mean, we found them, and we did not even know what we were looking for."
"There are many orcs in The Wild, toron nin," Elladan pointed out. "It is possible that we are tracking the wrong band."
"Can we try again and see if Amm is with them?" Elrohir's voice was full of distaste, but he had a valid point.
Elladan stretched forth his hand again, and the brother's brothers looked, not for orkish filth, but for the familiar, comforting light which they associated with their mother. They almost missed her. Her light was faint and so marred by the orcs that they did not recognize her at first.
And she was alone. Elladan felt Elrohir begin to ask him why she was alone, and then stop as Elladan anticipated his brother's thoughts, and answered the unvoiced question. She is alone because her escort has been killed. She is alone because the orcs have slain all her company and left her for dead.
Elrohir cast Elladan's hand aside, and the two renewed their ride with a hunter's cautious haste.
* * * * *
It had been too easy to convince Elrond to return to Rivendell. After hours of following the trail they were close to the valley and Glorfindel nonchalantly suggested that they stop by the house for food and drink if they meant to continue through the night. Elrond acquiesced, and Glorfindel watched another small part of his old friend die.
If Elrond had not such high regard for his horse, he might never have noticed the twins' unsanctioned absence. But he did, and it was immediately evident upon entering the stables that his sons, their hunting gear and their horses were gone. Lord Elrond of Rivendell slumped and sat in the hay. He wept, and Glorfindel could find no words.
* * * * *
Elladan had always known that elves could die. His uncle, the great King to whom his father had been herald, even Glorfindel had all had been killed and lived on in the tales and songs that were spoken in the Hall of Fire. But Elladan had never seen death before. He had never ridden his horse into a sun-drenched glade and pulled up short at the carnage he saw before him. He had never seen orcs; he had never seen black blood; he had never seen elves without heads; he had never seen fair Elven faces marred by a cut across the brow.
He saw them all now.
Elrohir slid off of his horse and picked his way through the bodies. He did not look upon any of their faces, instead relying entirely on his sense of his mother to find her. He knew his mother's escort. They were lordly elves of the Golden Wood who told great stories, and laughed richly, if not often. They honoured Lord Elrond by escorting his lady home. Elrohir could not bear to look upon their eyes.
At length, he found her. Her eyes were closed, and when he lifted her into his arms, she murmured insensibly, mistaking him for his father. He bore her to his twin's horse, and Elladan took her in his arms and set her before him. They both knew their mother's condition was grave, and offered up a silent prayer that their father would be in Rivendell when they returned. They rode as quickly as they could from that place of horror.
Today, they had seen death. They had also begun to understand Time.
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AN: R&RSVP!