Chapter 4

Elrond paused, his eyes wide as he glanced down the two paths. They had just reached a split in the tunnel and no one had any idea which way to go.

The elven lord knelt down and examined the ground closely, looking for any clues that may show which way they had been taken.

After a moment of discussion the group decided to take the path to the right and followed it quietly.

Within moments they knew they were going the right way. Even the men could sense the growing evil in the tunnel.

Raenan surprisingly seemed to get better, the pressing feelings were giving him much to worry about and he seemingly had no more room for his fear of the darkened tunnel.

Elrond turned as the twins came up next to him.

"We are getting close," Elladan whispered quietly.

Elrond simply nodded, not wishing to speak more than needed.

A low light was seen at the turn of the passage and they stopped at it.

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Aragorn was silent, his headache had calmed some, and though it still bothered him it was not bad enough that he could not pay attention to what was going on, though his attention wavered constantly.

Glorfindel watched the human worriedly and glanced around the cave silently. There was no way they would get out of this alone. His sharp eyesight caught a slight movement near the entrance and watched carefully out of the corner of his eye. He blinked and turned away when he noted the ones in the doorway.

-What do they think they're doing?! Are they trying to get themselves killed???- The elf panicked slightly. He quickly pushed down the feeling, knowing it wouldn't help them any. And he calmed as much as their situation would allow when the others disappeared from the entrance.

Aragorn was losing blood quickly from the gash across his temple, he'd been battling the building darkness in silence for quite some time now and he was slowly losing. A sudden pounding erupted in his head and he cried out quietly before falling into the waiting darkness.

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A loud snort was heard from a large cave carved into the side of the misty mountains as one awoke from an odd pain in its head. With a low growl that one left its cave and headed towards The Shire where it could find the one to help her with the problem she suddenly discovered.

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Halbarad was working on making his small group lunch while the other two were taking a quick scout of the surrounding area when he heard the approach of the dragon. He glanced up and waited as she came over and landed within a few moments.

"It has been a while," he said and paused, reading the expression in her eyes, "is something wrong?"

- There is something wrong with Estel. -

The ranger's eyes widened, "What? How do you know?!"

The dragon shifted, obviously wanting to go as soon as possible, -When I speak to one through thought in this way a lot, I can simply sense things like that -

Halbarad nodded, "Tyryn, Anorian and Beneron should be back soon. We can go then... as much as I hate leaving Strider out there when he's in possible danger, I can't leave them without them knowing where I'm going..."

The great creature nodded slightly and shifted, waiting impatiently.

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Elrond leant against the rock and dirt walls. There was no way they could do this by themselves. And there was also no way they could get enough people down this hall undetected in order to do it properly.

They were all at a loss. They knew they needed to get the three out but they had no idea how to do it.

Since they first looked they had been standing in the passageway for a couple hours. They had not been discovered which was a miracle in itself but they hadn't been able to think of any possible ways to help the three.

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Elenoharthad landed with a loud thump on the plains. The four rangers slid off her back and immediately the three that had decided to come along started looking for signs of the others. Halbarad waited with the dragon.

"Do you know where he is?"

She snorted and looked around in confusion, -His presence... it seems to be coming from right here... but...-

Halbarad blinked and went silent for a moment, "Maybe he's underground? I think it's safe to say he's not in the sky," he glanced up at the clear sky.

The dragon nodded and glanced down at the ground, then, after a short pause, began digging furiously, her long claws making short work of the hard ground.

It did not take her long to break the surface and shower dirt down on the beings below.

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Aragorn was jerked back to reality when he was hit on the head by a large clump on dirt making him fall back against the wall.

Legolas stirred, slowly besting the darkness that had held him captive.

Glorfindel pulled the two closer and they moved so they all protected one another. The elf lord had to move Legolas for the elf hadn't the strength yet to do so himself.

Aragorn looked up in shock when their dirt ceiling fell in suddenly. His wide eyes lighted on the dragon and he blinked.

Elen quickly pulled the three out of the way with her tail, lifting them out of the hole, then did the same for the ones that were still pressed into the passage.

Aragorn looked surprised. Not the sight of his family down there, he had a feeling they would be. Or even of Raenan or Erestor but more for the presence of Lex and Théoden.

Within a few moments any men in the tunnel had been fried by the angry dragon.

Legolas blinked and shook his head slowly, "Well... glad that's over..."

Aragorn nodded.

The twins were next to their brother in half a moment the human found himself pulled into a strong hug.

Elrond smiled then sighed. He was simply glad the three were well. It seemed the two younger had acquired some rather nasty knocks to the heads and Glorfindel had a the same as well as a sword stroke down his side, but from the looks of it had moved just slightly late so it was barely a graze.

Aragorn blinked when the twins didn't let him go, "Er... Elladan? Elrohir?" he squirmed slightly.

The twins just laughed but released him.

Aragorn glanced at them, "You are all well?"

"Not a scratch!" Elrohir said brightly.

Aragorn just frowned at him.

Elladan smiled, "Nay Estel, we didn't run into any trouble. But what of you."

Aragorn knew he wouldn't get away with saying 'nothing', "Just a knock to the head," he therefore replied, absently rubbing his head and shrugged.

Théoden frowned, "Shall we leave this place?"

"Let's," Legolas grumbled.

It didn't take long for Elen to bring them back to Edoras.

Aragorn sighed and shook his head. Now that he was with his family again he didn't want to be back. The only memories he really had here were ones of longing. Besides, he'd heard that Gondor was in need of more soldiers.

-I'll go to Gondor... Rohan is in good shape and doesn't need any more help. I have a feeling we wouldn't be doing anything for a while. Besides, one would help his own kingdom should it need ones help, - he froze and blinked, -oops... hadn't meant to say that... I mean Ecthelions kingdom...-

Legolas glanced over at him and cocked his head to the side slightly, "Thorongil?"

Aragorn shook his head and glanced over at the elf, "Aye Legolas?"

"You looked a little lost there."

Aragorn chuckled quietly, "Aye, sorry."

Legolas just shook his head, "What were you thinking of?"

"About how I think it's time now to go. I'm going to head to Gondor."

The elf looked only slightly surprised and nodded.

"They'll be lucky to have you," Elrohir said quietly.

Aragorn glanced over at the elf, "I hope to get out more often though. I'll come to see you more."

Elrond smiled sadly, "Let us not talk of this right now," he spoke up, moving between Aragorn and Elrohir.

Aragorn smiled at them and watched as Glorfindel cleaned the minor graze, "Come now. We should go get some rest."

Legolas snorted slightly, "Gladly."

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Aragorn was laying on his stomach, sprawled out in his large back yard. The elves had taken residence in the trees and the others were laying much like Aragorn was.

Lex had gone back to his family and Théoden had gone back to the halls.

Elen was curled up in a corner of the yard, very much awake. She had caught onto another presence a while ago that confused her and had kept to herself since.

Aragorn turned over, yawned, and squinted at the dragon, "Elen? What is it?"

She glanced over at him, -I don't know...-

Aragorn blinked and sat up, "You sense something?"

She nodded.

"Do you have any clue what it could be?"

-I would... but the only possibly I can come up with is impossible.-

"Oh?"

She glanced at the human, -Aye.-

"Is it someone you have known before?"

She nodded, -I think so... but... the one it seems to be... well... he was killed...-

Aragorn blinked, "Well... did you actually watch him die?"

-Well... no...-

"So maybe it is him then."

-I don't see how he could have survived...-

"That doesn't make it impossible. If the way an outcome looked like it should be always worked out that way I'd be dead many times over," he smiled.

She seemed to actually consider this and her eyes brightened, -You think it really is him and I'm not just sensing things that aren't actually there?-

"I think so."

-Estel...- she said slowly.

"Aye Elen?" he still sounded nearly half asleep.

-I think it's my brother.-

A/N

Elven Kitten: Sneaks in, covered from head to toe in armor erm... hello everyone!

Elf Side: Looks wary I'm going to take this time to say I wanted to update sooner.

Hobbit Side: Has hidden in the fridge

Gollum Side: Doesn't look like it could care less

E.K.: I'M SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Huggles everyone

A Sly Fan- lol. AH! So THAT was your secret motive! :P

MicroChips- Are poked many times O.O... thank you? Lol

grumpy- Glad you liked my flashback! And I think this chapter answers your questions. Lol

marbienl- Is okay! Huggles Thank you so much for all the reviews!!! Loved the little alligator/dragon thing... I didn't actually notice that until you said something! Lmao! Private helicopter? Funny. :P Oh yeah... I can only see it... Aragorn, hanging from a tree, attempting to fight orcs... lmao! Don't think that would work very well... :P I'm glad you liked the bickering! :P I have much practice... in other words... I have two younger sisters... lol. And glad you liked the ending to Time and Memory! Makes me happy! :P lol. About your question with the thought speech is that anyone can do it... just that most people wouldn't think to try... obviously... lol. Glad you liked my dwarf rock! :P About the bit of making a story about Estel's first year in Rivendell? I love the idea! Although I'm trying to keep this a series so I'll have to make it a type of flashback thing... I love the idea! Thank you!!!!!!! :P Yes, Silür is a strange elf... lol such mean trees! They just couldn't get out of his way! Lmao. I'm glad you seemed to like those two stories! And I'm very glad you're reviewing again!!!! Yes, poor Aragorn... so alone... so sad... lol. Huggles Thank you so much again for pulling me out of my writers block!!!! Pause now that I look back on it I didn't make it very clear that they were taken down into a room with all the men that they had been looking for did I? Oh well... can't do much now... maybe I'll go back if I become bored and fix it... lol!

mascara freak- lol, I'm pretty sure there will be more Legolas in this story! I'll try my best!

Pippin the hobbit-elf- I'm glad you liked my last story! lol, and yes... I did and am doing a sequel... lol!

Amthramiel- That's ok! I'm just glad you reviewed again! And as was said, Elrond did sense something, so the others would have as well... they just didn't really say anything since Elrond did... meh. Lol

E.K.: Well! That's it! Huggles everyone again I'm very sorry for the wait! Please don't kill me!

E.S.: Rolls eyes Thank you all for your patience.

G.S.: Snores

H.S.: Falls out of the fridge c-cold!

E.K.: No... really?! -.-0...

E.S.: We'll try our best to review sooner this time! Namarie!

Elenmeoi