I've just realised, I haven't done a disclaimer on this! So, here it is... DISCLAIMER: If LOTR was mine, I would not be sitting here on this comp trying to write fanfics. I would be living it up in the Caribbean with Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner whilst sitting atop a mountain of money.

That means I don't own LOTR...

^_^ Aaaw, you're all so nice! You know, I was only joking about the quality thing! I'm like that you see... You know, this might not be the Mellon Chronicles, but it's mine and I'm proud of it! ^_~

Deana; I'm really sorry but my dad is seriously strict about me emailing people; I don't think he'd let me! =S I'll see though... thanks for always reviewing though; I appreciate it!

Terreis; He he he... yeah, some of the chapter titles I've come up with for future fics are great, if I do say so myself... =) YOU'LL BE AWAY?!?!?!? NOOOOOOO!!! ='( I shall miss you mellonamin, I truly shall...

Mellaithwen-AngelMaiden; I noticed... -_- Lol, joke! ^_^ I thought we were doing both in one? I'm not sure of the title though... I like Serpents in the Mists; it could mean either the evil thing, or it could mean us! =) Depending how sarcastic we are feeling of course...

Estel Elven Enchantress; Yeah... bring me that horizon, lol! ^_^ I know, Siege of Dread is making me think, "POOR ELROND! *huggles Elrond* POOR THRANDUIL!!! *huggles Thranduil*" You being motherly?! Pull the other one!!! =)

Lainfaer; You want a snowball fight?! You've got a fic coming from a Mistress of Evil and you want a snowball fight?!?! Eh, cool idea! ^_^ I'll see what I can do!!!

Radioactive Bubblegum; June 15th?!?!?!?!?!?! O_O My god... thanks for the review!!!

Yavie Aelinel; YOU WILL GET YOUR DRAMA!!! ^_^ Trust me; I mean, who's writing this thing?! ... Exactly...

jambaby1963; *laughs evilly* So... who first? *spins Wheel of Mis-Fortune. Each part has either Legolas or Estel's name on* And the winner is... ooh! This should be interesting! I know actually, but you have to read to find out... he he he... seems I'm torturing my reviewers as much as the characters now...

Anarya; I like scary movies, adventure movies, action movies, comedy movies... in fact, I think the only kind of movie I don't like is romance ones. *shudders* Some are great, but some... argh!!! It's SO soppy!!! It's nice to see some new vocabulary in there!!! ^_~ Can you do it again I wonder? That's your challenge; each review, you have to use different words than the one you did last... I'll be watching you... lol! JOKING, you don't have to!!!

Manders1953; Ah! Well, we Amanda's have to stick together!!! ^_^ LOL! DUDE! ^_^

Astievia; LOL! The rainforest sounds so cool; really different from living in a city! I wish I was there now! *writes down rainforest on 'Places to Visit' list alongside New Zealand, New York, Florida and Tokyo* Right... nonsense! I love your writing, and coincidentally; are you going to update Wildfire! any time soon? I love that story!

Gwyn; You want Leggy angst? I'll check what the plot bunnies think... *plot bunny whispers in ear* Ah, the plot bunny says- *is cut of as plot bunny puts paw in front of mouth* O_O' Mmmphm!  

leggylover03; Oops! ^.^ I should have told you!!! Sorry! But yes, I'm maiming Estel (and Legolas!)... yet again... and rest assured that will not be the last time!

elfmage; So I'm an EVIL GENUIS now? Whew; make up your mind!!! ^_^ Lol, I'm kidding... I don't know, why are you laughing? Wait... is this a trick question?! Now wait a minute. Just because I've had some sort of angst in everything else I've written, why should it be in here?! *Legolas bounces out, tied up and gagged, trying to scream for help as he's seen the plot, closely followed by Aragorn* Eh-he... ^_^' *kicks them back into box* Ignore them... eh...

grumpy; Yeah, we'll just leave it that he's missing a couple o' brain cells, hmm? ^_^ Trying to kill a rabbit with a sword indeed... stupid boy... =) Of course, I made him that way...

And so another novel-length bunch of review replies are done... now; on with the chapter...

.: Chapter Four :.

The world spun about him, blurring from dark to light to white to grey to dark again and again. Small rocks and stones under the snow caught his skin, bruising and cutting him, ripping small tears in his clothing.

Just as Estel thought he would never stop rolling, his came to a halt in the middle of a thorny bush. All around him, barbs and spikes dug painfully into his skin. The boy cried out as they drew small spots of blood.

His cloak, the only thing providing a little warmth to his freezing body, was completely caught up in the thorns. He unhooked the brooch at his neck and crawled away, trying to keep as low to the frozen ground. At last, he found himself out of the bush, lying at the bottom of the hill, panting heavily.

Estel shivered violently. Now he felt miserable; he had caught nothing, he was freezing and soaked, and... and...

Tears trickled down his face. He wanted to go home. The question was... what direction was home in?

Trudging back up the hill he had fell down, he looked about him, searching for any signs of the valley. As he reached the top, he tried to remember what way he had come. Hazarding a guess, he waded through knee deep snow, hoping he was heading the right way.

The snow was so thick, the boy didn't notice the small blonde haired Elf that crossed his path a good few metres in front of him...

~*~*~*~

Legolas held tightly to the branch as he leaned over, peering down the snow covered hill. There, caught in a tangled web of thorny branches, was a bright red cloak.

"Estel!"

The young Elf placed a sure foot on the snow and let go of the branch. He skidded down the bank, keeping one foot in front to keep his balance. Sliding to a halt by the bushes, he looked in.

Only Estel's torn, tattered cloak was caught in the bush; there was no sign of Estel himself. Legolas looked about him. There were no footprints in the snow, save his own, and the Elf assumed that the boy had managed to crawl out the other side.

Legolas shut his eyes, bracing himself for the stinging, before crawling into the bush...

~*~*~*~

The stars were hidden behind the rolling thunderous clouds, but the moon just managed to peep its silvery head out and give the youngster some light to walk by.

A tingling in his nose made him pause for a moment, and he sneezed loudly. Estel shook his head lethargically; his nose was blocked up slightly and his throat was sore.

Estel's head snapped up as he heard some faint cries. There, through a haze of white, some small flickering lights; warm yellow firelight that was so inviting and homely. Estel smiled brightly, his weariness forgotten, and he broke into a run, heading for the Elves calling his name...

~*~*~*~

Elrohir was searching around the trees near the gates. They had to be around here somewhere...

"Ro!" cried a croaky voice. The younger twin shielded his eyes with his hand, trying to see through the snow that was clinging to his eyelashes. A small figure stumbled through the trees, zigzagging as it walked towards him. Was it... it couldn't be...

It was!

"Estel!!!" cried Elrohir, running towards his brother. The teenage human forgot all of his barriers, all the decisions he'd made to be as grown-up as possible, and sank into his older brother's arms, coughing harshly.

The younger twin hugged him tightly, and then drew him back at arms length. "Where's Legolas?"

Estel frowned. "I don't know..." His eyes lit up with fear. "I thought he was here!"

Elrohir's eyes widened. "You mean... he's...?" His head shook numbly as his mind created images of terrible things that could have befallen his friend. Legolas was much, much younger than him, but both he and Elladan cared about him like another little brother.

"Come on," he said, grasping Estel's hand. "We have to find Ada..."

~*~*~*~

He struggled through the thicket, wrestling his way out to the other side. His green tunic was ripped and shredded in places and long cuts decorated his pale skin.

Legolas sat in a small snow drift for a moment, catching his breath. He stung all over, and the freezing cold was slowly beginning to get to him. After a moment, he found himself and rose to his feet.

He looked about him. He seemed to be in a small clearing, which seemed strangely unusual in the midst of the thick woods he was in, but the young prince was really too tired to care. He walked out into the glade, treading with elvish softness on the carpet of snow.

He paused when he heard a cracking noise below him. Looking down, the Elf's heart nearly stopped. Frozen in fear, he realised what he actually stood on.

The water hole. It had covered with a thin layer of ice in the freezing cold, which in turn had been covered with snow. Legolas moved his foot slightly, causing a long crack to open in the ice. Small chunks broke away floating on their own atop the freezing water. If he made one wrong move, he could go crashing through the ice, and possibly never come up again.

He had a chance though if someone came to help him...

"Help!" he cried, the whipping wind drowning his yelling out. "Somebody, help me!!!"

It happened so suddenly that he barely had time to even cry out as the crack under his foot widened. The thin ice split down the middle all along the water. Legolas screamed as the flimsy surface broke away from underneath his feet and he fell with a splash into the dark swirling water below... 

And believe you me; that water is COLD... just so you know, when I said about Legolas skidding down the hill? I had the image of when Frodo is skidding down in TTT to help Sam outside Mordor. I didn't mean that he was falling...

Also, someone asked me one time why I call Legolas 'small'. Well, doing my research (ah, see! I do actually put a bit of work into these!) I found out that Legolas is surprisingly short for an Elf. 5ft 10" to be exact, and that's during the War of the Ring. In fact, throughout the Trilogy, Aragorn is taller than him. I looked at other Elves bios and found out that at that time most were into the 6ft range. Even Arwen was an inch taller than him! So that's why I call him small... because he is. ^_^ Plus, remember that he's a good 73 years younger than he is in LOTR during this fic. Even Elves have to grow!

They also asked me about his age. Well, while I was doing the same research, I found some very good evidence presented by someone far more intelligent than me that lots of little hints Tolkien himself dropped about him pointed to that he must have been somewhere between 600-800 during the Trilogy. To make life easier for myself, I made him 700 during the Trilogy and that's where I get his age...

Phew! There we go... and if anyone starts asking questions about the way I show Aragorn I shall... I will... I don't know!!! Put you in a fanfic and do to you what I do to these two!!! THERE!!! That's enough to put anyone off... =)