Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, places, ideas or anything else from Lord of the Rings. I do however lay claim on Elrond's twin daughters as Tolkien never wrote about any twin elven girls anywhere in his books. Everything else though, as much as I wish it, is not mine and belongs to the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien (a wonderful, wonderful man). Except for a 2-year-old toddler by the name of Estel (forever called tithen min by his siblings) who needs looking after.
~~~~OOOOO~~~~
They had been traveling for three days north-west of Rivendell, and had long since left the mountains behind them. They were currently crossing the area of Rhudaur, and were very near to the Hoarwell River. The hunting hadn't been the greatest so far, and besides the deer they had seen the previous afternoon, they had caught no sign of anything since then.
"Elladan," his youngest sister started and he mentally cringed. No doubt she was about to ask the same thing she had been asking every hour for the last two days. "Would it no be better to set up a permanent camp of sorts and hunt from there?"
He sat stunned on his horse for a moment before the ability to speak came back to him. "Where did you come up with this idea?"
She smiled at him. "We are obviously not catching anything simply wandering around in the wilderness. At least if we had a camp set up we could split up and take different paths. We would be far more likely to find something. And then we have a spot to return to."
Elrohir was nodding sagely to his left. He tried to refrain from glaring at his brother. "I suppose it is as good an idea as anything. Where do you propose we strike camp?"
Arómenë looked around her closely and after a few more minutes of riding she pointed to what appeared to be a clearing ahead. Indeed it was; a grassy patch in the middle of the forest that was right on the dirt Ranger's path they had been following most of the morning. It was the perfect spot to camp, and by the looks of it someone had obviously thought of it before them. There was a distinctive fire pit to one side of the open space.
"Very well, you can help your sister set up the tents. Elrohir and I will get a fire going: it is nearly time for a meal anyways."
The girls eagerly jumped to obey as Elrohir set about collecting firewood. Straying only a few feet out of the clearing into the woods, he came across a small clear stream flowing between the trees. It did appear to be a perfect spot to camp. He turned his scrutiny to the trees and was satisfied to see they were ideal for climbing, or hiding.
By the time the tents were up and a simple meal prepared it was waning towards mid afternoon and Elladan decided it best to forego anymore hunting until the next day. The girls thought this a wonderful idea and quickly declared that they were going off to explore the area.
Elrohir, who was only really half listening simply nodded and warned them to be careful. No doubt if Elladan had not been off into the woods gathering more firewood, he would have said something more, but he was not. The oldest son of Elrond was fiercely protective of his siblings.
It was a good hour later before Elladan returned with firewood, having taken the time to scout the area for dangers. The first thing he noticed was the girls' absence.
"Elrohir, where are our sisters?"
Elrohir looked up at him from his spot on the ground sharpening his sword. "They have gone for a walk; honestly 'Dan, you spend so much time worrying over those two! They have not gone far, so do not panic."
Elladan obvious thought panicking was the perfect thing to do in the present situation. "You let them go off on their own!? What were you thinking!? These woods are dangerous, and they can't defend themselves!" He looked about ready to continue his litany of complaints, but Elrohir cut him off.
"They are not elflings anymore brother, and lest you forget, they have been trained by Glorfindel and you and I. And I believe Ada has been giving them lessons when Naneth is not looking. They are quite capable of looking after themselves for a few hours. And I highly doubt, despite your protestations on the matter, that these woods are all that dangerous."
Elladan glared dangerously at his brother. "And will you use that as an excuse to father when we return with two injured sisters?"
Elrohir did not deem to answer him, and instead went back to his sharpening. "You may go traipsing through the woods after them, brother, but I will not come with you. I would rather not have them angry with me for the rest of the trip because I treated them like babes."
"Fine," the eldest sighed. "I will go and look for them myself." And with that he disappeared into the trees, leaving Elrohir shaking his head behind him.
~~~~OOOOO~~~~
"Andúnë, do you think perhaps we should return to camp?" Rómë looked sideways at her sister. No answer was spoken, and she fell silent.
They had been walking for nearly an hour now and, despite what they had promised Elrohir they had spent that time walking nearly straight away from camp, towards the mountains. Rómë knew they were entering territory that would probably not be considered safe by the twins.
"Dúnë, I really think we should go back. It is already late in the day; if we turn back now we shall return in time for the evening meal. And Elladan is probably already looking for us. You know how angry he gets when we do anything he perceives dangerous."
For a moment she again received no answer, but finally her twin stopped beside a large rock and sat down. "Ai, I know we should go back. But I do not wish to. We spend so much time following what Elladan says. We are safe enough here; there is nothing to worry about."
The youngest nodded in agreement, but it was only halfhearted.
The sudden ruckus as a bird took off from its perch on the nearest tree, caused the twins to jump in shock and set their hearts to racing.
"I think…I think maybe we should go back," the eldest agreed. Rómë nodded quickly, not trusting her voice at that moment.
Together they headed back west towards the camp, the sun shinning in their eyes and turning their blond hair to a shimmering gold.
~~~~OOOOO~~~~
At that same moment Elladan was just beginning to follow his sisters' faint tracks ever eastward. The direction of their path alone had instantly set him to worrying, and each step away from camp and towards the mountains cause his concern to increase. Whatever had possessed them to wander off so far?
He had not walked more than a score of minutes when the forest thinned out to open land and, as if to make everything worse, the trail ended.
For one moment Elladan lost all control and turned to kick the nearest tree, but he stopped himself just in time before he broke his toes on the hard trunk. Sighing in realization to climbed up the tree instead to get a better view of the plain. They would have to find their way back on their own, he admitted; there was no way he could track them across short grass and wild fields. Not since they were Elven at least. But that didn't ease his fears at all. He glanced up at the sun, already low in the sky. It would set within the hour and he did not have faith that they would be able to find their way once it was dark.
Elladan comforted himself with imagining the lecture he would be able to impart to them once they were all back at the camp. And he let himself indulge in thinking about the look on his father's face when he told them about the girls' little side-adventure. Adar would not be happy. Of course, he'd probably find some way to blame Elladan for this; after all, the twins were young and innocent and couldn't possibly be responsible for doing anything dangerous. Elladan groaned and thumped his head against the tree trunk. He couldn't possibly tell Elrond about this. Which meant the twins were going to get away with doing something irresponsible yet again.
Why me? Was his last thought before he focused on scanning the open land for any sign of his sisters.