A/N: I've separated the two chapters that I had together the first time
Review Response
-Beginning 'n' End- Glad you enjoyed ch.1, Thanks, you were the first to review and probably read my story. Thanks again.
Chapter 2: Cats and Elves
The story begins around mid-summer when everything was hot and dry, even the haven called Rivendell (Imladris to the elves) was not spared from the heat of summer. It had not rained in two months and was starting to effect all forms of life from plants and animals to the men and elves. Though the heat did not bother the eldar in the least it did cause a bought of laziness to cover them like a thick woolen blanket.
Three elves sat on a partially covered balcony. Elladan, the oldest of the three, sat on the railing with his back against the cool marble pillar behind him. He was looking out into the woods, seeing all that was before him and yet seeing nothing. He allowed his mind to wonder into pleasant times of the past.
On the ground near Elladan sat his mirror image. His twin brother younger only by three minutes, Elrohir, whose mind was also lost in the past of his life.
Not to far from the twins, laying on a stone bench was the prince of Mirkwood. Legolas was drifting somewhere between being asleep and a daydream like state, which in his mind was the oddest sensation he had ever experienced. He couldn't tell if he was finally asleep or awake.
Not much was said between them and all answers that came out were grunts, mm-hum, uh-un, and various other sounds. This is how things had been since morning and it wasn't yet noon.
There was one other who would normally be with the boys. Estel, or Strider to some, or Aragorn to almost no one. A man of many names and sometimes many faces. His biological parents had died at the hands of orcs when he was only two years old. Elronds twin sons took him back to Rivendell with them. Their he was raised in Rivendell as a mortal amongst immortals, but he was loved and well liked and treated with the same respect they gave to one another. Raised by Lord Elrond himself calling him father and the twins, Elladan and Elrohir, were as brothers, he also named Legolas friend, and given his heart to one, Arwen Undomiel. He was a man destined to become king of men, though that's not for many, many years.
Estel was away traveling abroad with the rangers and wasn't due back for another two weeks. With Aragorn gone the twins had no little brother to play pranks on or frame for their own tricks on other victims. Life was now dulled some. Things were getting so boring that everyone was almost wishing that orcs would invade or something. Almost.
"What do you want to do?" asked Elrohir
"Hmm?" said Elladan, "Oh, I don't know. Ask Legolas he's the guest. Let him decide."
"Legolas."
Silence
"Lagolas?" Elrohir looked to see if his friend had fallen asleep. "Legolas, are you asleep?"
"Well I was, but then you woke me." Legolas turned his head to look at his long time friends. "What is it?"
"We wanted to know what you wanted to do today." said Elladan, not looking away from the view before him.
"I don't know."
More silence.
"We could pull a prank on someone" suggested Elrohir
"No, Erestor is still pretty angry about what we did last time." said Elladan
"Still it was funny seeing the look on his face when he saw his books in the library. I never thought he knew those dwarven curses." said Legolas look at the ceiling.
"And when Glorfindel gets back from patrol he'll use those same curses when he finds out what we put in his bed."
"I thought you weren't going to do anything to him?"
"Were not, Estel is. He wants to get even for Glorfindel embarrassing him at the banquet in front of Arwen. "
"Since he gets back a few days before Glor. We promised we would help him come up with something" Elrohir finishing Elladans thought.
More silence
"Well we could go swimming." suggested Legolas
"That sounds like a good idea." Elladan hopped down from the railing
Elrohir stood up and stretched trying to get rid of the kinks that resulted from sitting in the same position for too long. "It would help to shake away this lazy feeling"
And so together they made their way through the house, tiptoeing around Erestor's room, and through the courtyard heading to their favorite place to swim. A small cliff on the edge of Rivendell with a waterfall that emptied into the river below. The surface of the water was warm from the summer sun shinning on it all day, but the water beneath it was refreshingly cool. They swam and played for a few hours. Jumping off the sides of the cliff. Swinging on a rope that had been tied to a tree who's branches hung over the water. Playful water fights and wrestling, seeing who could swim farther and faster and who could hold their breath the longest. It was late in the afternoon when the boys retired to rivers' banks and once again allowed laziness to take hold.
Elladan was about to fall asleep when a soft sound reached his pointed ears. He sat up and looked around for whatever made the noise. It was coming from the other side of the river. Seeing that his friend and brother were roaming through elven dreams, he quietly left not wishing to wake them unnecessarily. Wading softly through the water till his feet no longer touched the muddy river bed, he started swimming to the other side. By the time he climbed out he realized the sound was gone.
Maybe I was imagining it. Thought Elladan.
The elf stood their for a few more minutes before deciding to go back. As he turned to swim back. He heard a soft 'mew'.
Now I'm sure I heard something He now realized that the sound was not coming from the river bank, but on the other side of the trees near it, looking across the river to see if the others were still asleep. They were. He turned and headed in the direction of the sound.
The forest was bigger than it looked, though it wasn't technically in Imladris's broders his brother and him and a few friends would still patrol it. He knew there was a small clearing beyond it. He was half way through the woods when other noises reached his ears. In the distance he heard alarmed voices and the sounds of metal clashing with metal.
Elladan was soon running, dodging and jumping over anything in his path. The voices and noises were becoming louder as he drew closer to a clearing on the other side of the trees. He was shoeless and weaponless, but he had to do something to help with whatever trouble laid beyond the trees.
Suddenly the sounds of fighting ceased. Elladan skidded to a stop at the final row of trees before the clearing. Wishing to discover what had happened before rushing into things unknown. With his back against a large tree he listened to his surroundings.
"Leave it, go after the others!" one voice yelled
"But what if it escapes while were away?" another voice asked
"She wont. And if she does she wont last long here. There's nowhere for her to go."
"What about the elves that are said to live near here? They might take her in."
"And once they find out about her they'll kill her, just like all the others like her."
"But wont the Boss be angry if we let her die?"
"What does it matter. He just tortures 'em then later kills 'em."
Another voice entered sounding much younger than the other two could be heard in the distance "Hey are you two going to stand there all day and let us get away. You're more cowardly than your reputations say."
"Why you little.." The first voice spoke
"What's the matter your friends already started chasing us. My companions are taking care of them. Which means I get to play with you. " There was silence again, but Elladan could have sworn he heard a low primal growl coming from the first mans throat. The younger voice continued, "You know what I'm willing to bet my grandmother could beat ya and she's blind" Elladan winced at the verbal assault.
"That's it kid."
KID!? A child is involved. Well that explains why he sounds young Elladan thought as he peaked around the trees to get a better look at things. He turned in time to see a boy, probably no older than thirteen, running away from the two men. Their attire was like nothing Elladan had ever seen. The men's clothing looked to be like that of the local rangers. But something didn't feel right about any of them, not even the boy.
Once the three were out of sight Elladan walked into the clearing. Part of him wanted to follow the others and see how the confrontation played out, but the other part told him to stay and search for the noise he had earlier heard, which had long before now stopped. He wasn't sure what he was looking for in the area all he knew was it was female and something elves would kill. However the former seemed highly unlikely, in his three thousand years of life if he learned nothing else it was that most of the human race were wrong about elves.
The noise started again this time it was louder and more high-pitched than it was earlier.
It didn't take Elladan long to find where the noise was coming from. A small wooden box sat in the ankle deep grass.
Elladan crouched down to look at the box it was smooth on all sides with three slits on the top and smooth little metal circles decorating various spots on the sides. A lock was placed on the door and a set of hinges across from it. He leaned over to see into the slits.
As he got close to see inside a white bloody paw reached out to gouge his eyes with its long needle-like claws. Elladan instantly pulled back the claws missing his face, however some of his dark brown hair became tangled in the creatures claws. With a loud yelp the creature quickly pulled its paw back tacking a few strands of Elladans hair with it.
Elladan fell back landing in a most unelflike manner. Now sitting on the ground in front of the box Elladan rubbed the spot where the strands once were, he contemplated whether or not to let the creature out, he hated to admit it but maybe the men were right about the elves killing it. He was about to get up and leave when he heard another sound coming from the box. It started as a soft mewing then it progressed into something else. Elladan couldn't say why it made him feel the way he did now, only that it was something with the sound he was now hearing, which as it progressed it sounded more like singing than the noise he originally called it.
She sounds sad, Thought Elladan, I wonder what those men wanted with it. Whatever it was it couldn't have been good. The creature continued its slow, soft sad song.
Elladan once again knelt in front of the box and started talking to the creature inside.
"Don't worry I'll let you out. But you have to promise not to try and rip out my eyes again." the 'singing' stopped.
Silence did not fall over them as Elladan worked at pulling the pins out of the hinges. Elladan found himself talking with whatever was inside. He kept reassuring it, asking it questions, telling her he was almost done. He felt as if the creature inside could understand him and needed a friendly voice to listen to while it waited for freedom. He also decided that the earlier attempt at his eyes was more out of fear and need to escape than any true malice towards him.
It took longer that he expected, but finally the last pin came out and he opened the box. Elladan was shocked at what he saw inside. Upon opening the door he reveled the round metal circles to be the heads of short nails with the points jetting inwards. On the nails were small bits of fur and flesh and drops of blood was splattered around the interior as well as on the nails. He looked to the animal that was crouched in the center of the box where the nails couldn't reach.
It's a cat
A small white cat a few months past its kittenhood stared up at him with the pair of the strangest eyes Elladan had ever seen. The coloring was like no other, one of the eyes was a bright emerald green while the other was a dark blue. Another soft mewing brought Elladan from his mussing and back to the situation at hand.
Elladan slowly reached inside to pull the cat out but stopped when the cat instinctively slunk back as far as she could without impaling herself on the nails surrounding her.
How could anyone be this cruel? Elladan asked himself "It's alright I wont hurt you. I'm just going to get you out of there and away from those men." The cat stared at him with is strange colored eyes and tilted her head to one side as if thinking over what the elf before her had said.
Finally the cat hesitantly stepped forward into Elladans waiting hand.
Elladan smiled as the little cat willingly walked to him. But it quickly faded when he brought the small animal out of the box and saw the injuries inflicted upon the little one. Tuffs of fur had been forcefully ripped from its tail and sides leaving patches of raw irritated flesh exposed. Blood both dry and fresh matted its snow white fur. Her left foreleg was very bloody. Elladan inspected it further and discovered two deep puncture wounds. One looking fresher than the other.
That must have been from where she reached out to me Looking back into the cats eyes he said " I'm sorry little one I can't do anything about the other wounds right now, but I can bind your leg."
Elladan sat the cat on the ground being careful not to further irritate the other injuries. Reaching under his outer tunic to the light one underneath it Elladan ripped off a small strip of cloth and gently wrapped it around the two puncture marks. Carefully picking up the feline Elladan proceeded to head back to where he left the others asleep on the river banks. They would be awake and looking for him by now.
It was then the silence was broken by a fierce loud unnatural roar.