Chapter 3
Aragorn stood on the field, staring ahead in annoyance.
There was no one.
The man grumbled under his breath and turned to stare at Théoden, "Well?"
"I'm sorry," the young prince said, looking shocked, "I swear they were here…"
Aragorn glanced over at Elrond and cocked his head to the side slightly.
The elf was still staring in the direction their enemies should be, "They are still here…" he said, just loud enough for his son to hear.
Aragorn looked over at him, "I feel something as well… it's… confusing to say the least… but there is no where for them to hide here…"
Elrond glanced over at the man, "I can sense them… they are not too far away either…"
Aragorn nodded, thinking hard and quick, "I'll go ahead and see if I can find any signs of where they could be…"
Elrond glanced back at the soldiers who seemed to be all over the place, "You go with Glorfindel and Legolas… I'll stay and deal with them… though it may not be a good idea for them to know I'm elven…" he hated hiding it… but he would for his son.
Aragorn nodded, "Okay," he then turned and whistled loudly, causing his father to wince, "Okay!" he called, and continued when he had their attention, "I want you all to listen to Dirnener here," he placed one hand on his fathers shoulder.
Elrond blinked slightly at the name his son had given and smiled slightly at the memory.
{[]}Flashback{[]}
Elrond sat working in his study, a frown adorning his face as he read over one of the many documents he was to have ready by the end of the week. He'd been working for five days straight now and even he, one that was so patient, was getting sick of it.
He was startled out of thought by the door being flung open and two very worried looking elven twins came through the door.
"Ada? Have you seen Estel?" Elrohir asked worriedly.
Elrond's gaze shot to him, "No I haven't… in fact I haven't seen him since I started working on these," he motioned to his desk a slight tinge of guilt lacing his voice.
"We've been looking for him for hours now…" Elladan said hesitantly.
Elrond was immediately on his feet and out the door before either of the twins could speak again.
The two looked at each other and went after their father.
Elrond's keen eyes took in ever corner and any possible place a child could hide as he passed.
The three split up and covered the entire house in just under an hour. They quickly went to the garden and split up again.
Elrond walked a little slower here, there were many more places for a child to hide outdoors and he checked every possible spot.
He sighed slightly after a near hour of searching outdoors when he thought of something. The child had always been trying to climb… though his short height had never allowed it. The elven lord turned and moved quickly in the direction of the forest.
In fifteen minutes he was rewarded when he heard the slight sniffling of his youngest son. He frowned slightly and glanced around in an attempt to find the child. It hadn't rained for a while and the ground was quite hard, the elf lord registered this and told himself he'd have to fix that when he was done, but a dwarf could come through now and would leave no footprints.
He stared for a while; the leaves had been brushed away in an attempt to hide his presence. He hide a sad smile, the child hadn't thought to brush them all away… only the ones that had been crushed so the elf followed the cleared trail to a bush and stopped there.
"Come on out now Dirnener," the elf said quietly. [Hidden one]
"No…" came the quiet, faltering reply.
Elrond frowned again, "Estel… ion nin… please?" [my son]
There was a pause before the little boy launched himself away from the bush and towards his father.
Elrond quickly dropped to his knees and lifted the child into his lap, "What's wrong tithin min?" [little one]
The child hesitated before looking up at his father, "Why?"
Elrond cocked his head to the side slightly, "Why what Estel?"
Estel took a deep breath and let it out slowly before answering, "Why am I different? Why don't the elflings like me? Why did you take me in? Why do my brothers always ignore me? Why???"
Elrond looked shocked, "Estel…" he paused, contemplating how to best answer these questions, "Estel, everyone is different, the elflings don't like you because they don't know you. I took you in because I knew your parents, and I loved you from the start, and your brothers ignore you because they have lots to do… and… well, they are themselves… they always find something they feel they must do," he smiled down at the child.
Estel sighed slightly, "Maybe… but… you're always busy and… the twins are always out hunting or something… and I don't have any friends… well… 'sept 'Restor and Glor… but they're always busy too…"
Elrond nodded slowly, "Look, why don't we go back and have you cleaned up. It'll give you some time to calm yourself and then we can speak of this some more, okay?"
Estel bit his lip, "But… what about all the work you still gotta do?"
Elrond shook his head, "You're more important than work… everything I have left to do are not so important that they cannot be put off a day or two."
Estel smiled at his father and hugged him tightly as he was lifted and carried back, "Amin mela lle ada…" he muttered quietly. [I love you]
"I love you too Estel."
{[]}End Flashback{[]}
Elrond shook his head unnoticeably when Aragorn's hand left his shoulder, jolting him back to the present.
Aragorn smiled at him, "Hey… sorry about the whistle," he smirked, bit back a laugh and set off with Glorfindel and Legolas.
Elrond turned and remounted his horse in order to be able to see above all the heads. He simply sat there and waited and one by one they all stopped and fell silent.
Elrond shook his head and glanced over at Erestor, "This is what my son works with…" he shook his head in amusement.
The other elf smiled though it quickly disappeared as he stood beside the elf lord.
Elrond quickly turned back with a completely calm aura about him, "I want you to all calm yourselves. If an attack does happen to come it will not help you to be taken by surprise or if you're in a nervous, unsure state. Simply go about any duties Captain Thorongil would have you do in a time of rest."
The men looked slightly hesitant and after a while Lex pushed his way through them towards the elf.
"If I may?" he asked quietly.
The elven lord simply nodded, -humans… so slow…- he quickly shook the thought from his head, "You know them better than I do."
The man nodded and turned around, though not before giving the elves a warning of loudness to come.
"Okay men! The Captain left Dirnener in charge! He's given him the authority, and you must respect that! Have you all forgotten what he taught us?" he yelled over the rather loud mutterings of the men.
They all froze at that and stared, completely silent.
"What are you waiting for?! Get to it!"
They immediately did so, not wanting to disappoint their captain.
Lex nodded and turned back to Elrond with an apologetic smile, "They are reluctant to listen to anyone other than Thorongil… he helped them all with their faults and has become not only a captain but a friend to them all. You simply must remind them that that is what he wanted of them."
The elf nodded, "And you seem to have become a good friend of his."
Lex shook his head in amusement, "I used to be afraid of him," he laughed, "we all were, yet we liked him at the same time… odd how it works really."
Elrond smiled, "He's always had the ability to make people like him."
The second-in-command smiled at him for a moment then shook his head again, "I'll admit this is odd… the most I've been able to get out of him is that he was adopted…"
Elrond nodded, "I suppose it is understandable," he paused and continued with a sigh, "not everyone views elves with anything more than disdain."
The human winced slightly, "How well I know… my parents were both that way… I never could understand why."
Elrond smiled slightly, "Then you have obviously turned out nothing like them."
"Then I'm glad," the man mumbled.
Elrond glanced out in the direction his son had went and a worried frown immediately took over his expression.
The man caught the look and followed his gaze, confused.
Erestor's gaze shot in the same direction and he frowned as well.
Lex looked rather confused and worried now, "What?"
Raenan had come over with wide eyes, "Where?" he found himself unable to complete his sentence.
The twins were both staring and finally Elladan spoke up.
"They're gone!" he managed to squeak out, "AI! I'm going to kill that man!" he yelled before leaping onto his horse and taking off in the direction they were staring, the others followed quickly.
The group of men glanced at each other and quickly followed the elves.
Elrond pulled his horse to an abrupt halt when the slight tracks halted.
The twins looked down, attempting to figure out what caused their father to stop.
Elrohir blinked; "They disappeared… ada?" he gave the elf lord a confused look and dismounted his horse, getting a better look at the ground.
Elrond had quickly dropped to his knees and was carefully going through the grass, looking for any sign that would show where the three could have gone. He froze as he hit something and quickly prying it up, finding a long passage running underneath the ground. He pushed the hidden door all the way open and glanced over when he heard the prince's surprised squeak.
Théoden looked at the elven lord, "That is a secret escape that Rohan used to use during wars or whenever we needed to get our people out of here fast without notice… there is another exit closer to the city…"
Elrond listened carefully and frowned, "Used to use?"
"We stopped using it when it was found out and was used against us…" the young prince frowned, "but we had it filled in…"
"Apparently your orders were not carried out," Elrond said flatly.
"Apparently…"
Elrond glanced down and after a moment leaped down into it, he frowned slightly at the stuffiness of it but shook his head and glanced up.
The twins immediately followed him and moved to flank their father.
Raenan glanced down into the dark, small hall uncomfortably. He shifted and glanced up, closing his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before dropping in, -Do it for you prince… for your friend…- he repeated to himself continuously.
Erestor shifted as well grumbling to himself, "It had to be a long, dark tunnel… just had to…" he dropped in after the others.
Théoden glanced over at Lex and the other man shrugged at the elves reaction.
The prince turned to the contingent, "Go and surround all of the exits, you know where they are."
The men immediately split up and went to do just that.
Elrond closed his eyes and listened carefully frowning slightly when the two humans dropped rather loudly to the floor. He opened his eyes after a moment and headed down the passage, moving away from Edoras.
"They've gone this way," he said quietly.
Raenan moved silently, the twins had moved next to him and were talking to the wood elf along with Erestor, trying to keep their minds of the dark, stuffy hall.
Elrond seemed not to notice the darkness, he was bothered by it only half as much as Erestor thanks to his human side and the fact that the Noldor were not as bothered by things like this as the wood-elves were, that and the fact that he was too worried about his youngest son to really register the rest of it.
The twins weren't as bad as the other two though worse than their father but they kept their minds off it by trying to keep the other two's minds off it.
After a near hour of travelling, Raenan was literally shaking and looked as if he was about to fall over and the twins were rather worried about the elf.
Elrond turned and glanced at the elf then sighed slightly and motioned for them to sit. He then sat in front of the terrified elf and coaxed him silently to look into his eyes.
"Raenan," he said, keeping his voice even and calm, "Close your eyes, think of the forest. Block all this out of your mind, and concentrate on the trees…"
The elf slowly calmed down at that and sighed slightly.
Elladan then went to the elf and lifted him right off his feet, he winked at his twin with a smirk and the small wood-elf squeaked slightly.
"Elladan!" he exclaimed suddenly.
The elf just shook his head with a mischievous grin on his face, "Aye Raenan?"
"Put me down!"
"I don't think you'd get very far," Elrohir cut in.
"Of course I could!"
Elladan shrugged and put the elf on his feet; he frowned when the elf almost fell over.
"I can do it!" he said when he saw the look. Of course after a few steps when he actually did fall over again Elladan moved forward quickly and caught him.
"Raenan…"
"Okay so I was wrong…"
Elladan gave the elf a meaningful look, "You shouldn't have come Raenan… you'll only hurt yourself…"
Raenan immediately shook his head, "I have to come for Legolas…"
"Then at least let me help you."
The smaller elf stared at the Noldo for a moment before sighed and nodding.
Elladan lifted the elf again and had to bite back a laugh at Raenan's look of complete embarrassment.
{[]}{[]}{[]}{[]}
Aragorn groaned as he regained consciousness to the gentle prodding of someone nearby, "Muh…" was all he managed.
"Yes Estel, muh, but we have bigger problems," he heard the quiet voice of Glorfindel urge.
The human slowly opened one eye to the elf and blinked as he realized he couldn't see. He panicked for a moment before it all started coming to him and he realized it was just dark. He breathed a sigh of relief and slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, wincing slightly as his head started pounding.
"What happened?" he asked weakly.
Glorfindel quickly shushed him when a fire was lit and the elf cursed himself for the ringing in his ears that had caused him to miss the movements.
Aragorn shifted slightly and glanced to his other side, his eyes widening as they came to rest on his friend.
Legolas was leaned up against the wall, yet he slumped forward slightly. He was pale, even for an elf and his glow was nearly gone.
Aragorn unconsciously looked the elf over for injuries and found only bruises and scratches. He pulled the elf carefully into his lap and leaned back, pulling his weakened friend against him and muttering to him quietly in elvish.
Legolas groaned but his tense form calmed immediately and he allowed himself to slump against his friend, muttering nonsense in elvish, his words slurring together.
Aragorn frowned and pushed the thumping in his head and started humming unconsciously to his friend.
"AElberethGilthoniel,
silivren penna míriel
o menel aglar elenath!
Na-chaered palan-díriel
o galadhremmin ennorath,
Fanuilos, le linnathon
nef aear, sí nef aearon!
A Elbereth Gilthoniel o menel palan-diriel, le nallon
sí di-nguruthos! A tiro nin, Fanuilos!"
Legolas glanced up at his friend and smiled at him, "I've never heard you sing before…"
Aragorn jumped slightly and glanced down at the elf that was leaning against him, "Legolas! Are you okay?" he asked quietly, ignoring the elf's comment.
The elf managed a weak smile, "Couldn't be better?"
"Nice try elf…"
Legolas sighed slightly and slumped back against his friend, falling back into his previous oblivion.
A/NElven Kitten: Runs in and hides, carrying her kitten again
Frodo: Mew?
E.K.: HIDE LITTLE KITTEN!!! WE MUSN'T BRING THE RATH OF THE REVIEWERS DOWN UPON US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Elf Side: Uh… I'm just going to go on with reply's okay?
E.K.: BE CAREFUL OH BRAVE ONE!!!!!!!!!!
E.S.: Rolls eyes
Amthramiel- Well, come on, everyone needs to take breaks. They had not originally intended to stay long and there are other elves in Rivendell that could take over the responsibilities for a while. And I doubt that the lack of Vilya's presence for but a small amount of time would affect it.
Kandice: lol, I know! They're great. :P
Roccovende- lol, glad you thought so! And I hope you think this one was better, I did… wasn't rushed this time… and I wasn't tired… or in an… odd mood either! Lol.
grumpy- cha! I felt I had to put in some amusement before the torture… Evil grin
Ivy3- Glad you like!!! :P, And I fully intend to complete this. I wont ditch my stories. Nope, nope. Just hope you continue to read!
macilwen- Evil grin Good nose that you has! And it's oooooooonly beginning! Muahahahaha!!!!!
A Sly Fan- -.-… Hi? They is… on vacation! XP… XD heehee… and 'cheese' is not a question… Nods :P
Elven Kitten: Rah! Done! I'd write longer, but my computer is only starting to get better and I don't wanna push it… But I have one more thing to say... clears throat Okay! It was about this time last year that I started writing! So, I decided to write a longer chapter! So sorry if it took a little longer than usual but I hope it was worth it! … lol sooooooooooo… c ya!
Namarie!
Elenmeoi
