-Note- I'm back, sorry for the delay. Everything went well, and I'm fine. Had half a dozen tests to make up once I got back to school, and one of those 4-hour, standardized monsters this morning /flinch/. More Elvish used in this chapter- Sindarin, unless specified. Translations are provided at the end of the page; if you see any errors, please let me know!

Another thing: There is quite a lot of Elvish in this chapter (or at least, I think so). Would it be easier for you if I translated the Elvish right after it was used (e.g.: at end of paragraph)? I don't really want to compromise the flow of the chapter, but I know what a pain it is to ignore/scroll down to the English. :P

-24 Oct. edit- Fixed that mistake...hope it works out now! :P

-Disclaimer- Please see chapter 1.

A Step Inside

"Where are...?" Rúmil asked. "Oh! They are underground...in the caves."

"Caves?" Glorfindel cried. If the lack of Elves had startled him, Rúmil's answer had horrified him. "Only Thran-"

Rúmil silenced him with a pointed look.

"We have relocated to the caves in the wake of recent..." he thought for a moment. "appearances of Men close to our area."

"There it is again. What has happened, Rúmil?"

At that moment, Alyaran dashed up from behind Glorfindel. He waded through the deep blanket of leaves, tail wagging, and stopped at the base of a thick oak several yards from the shore.

"What's his name?" asked Rúmil.

"Alyaran. He's four years old."

"He's a good creature. He found Mídhegaer before you did." Rúmil grinned at Glorfindel's puzzled look, let out another short bird call

By then, Glorfindel was not startled to hear a response. A clear voice rang out from the branches in the oak tree, laughing.

"Man nan ha? Im gerin ú-"º

"Tolo dad, Mídhegaer!"º Rúmil called, flashed an exasperated smile at Glorfindel. "Govad-le sen ellon." º

"Man na ha?"º There was a sound of branches moving as if in a soft wind.

"Hîr Glorfindel, o Imladris!"º

There was a barely audible gasp from overhead, then a light thud as the other Elf leapt out of the tree, narrowly missing Alyaran.

He was slender, like Rúmil, but slightly shorter, with darker features. He wore varying shades of brown; the better to blend in with the trees, Glorfindel supposed.

"Hîr-nin,"º he said, sweeping into a low bow as Alyaran sniffed curiously at his cloak. Glorfindel raised his eyebrows at Rúmil.

"Mae govannen, Midhegaer."º

"Mae govannen, hîr Glorfindel."º

"Lord, you have tamed the untamable," laughed Rúmil. Mídhegaer looked at him tentatively.

"Eria-le, ù-baur an cû."º

"He will not understand you if you speak any Mannish. He has lived here all his life and sees visitors seldom; you are quite an oddity to him. Not to mention that you happen to be the Glorfindel. The hero most Elflings worship."

Glorfindel frowned. "He's lived here all his life?"

"Aye."

"But-"

"He is the youngest Elf in the forest, and loved by all. Mídhegaer was the first Elfling we had had in many yéniº, and indeed, there have been none since."

"I did not know there were any children left."

"We live on still, in these woods."

"Albeit sometimes in caves?"

"Yes, sometimes in caves." Rúmil whispered softly to Mídhegaer, who had been staring avidly at Glorfindel. He nodded, slipped into the trees with a flash of russet.

"Where have you sent him?"

"Ahead, to tell of your arrival."

"There are more Elves in the trees, are there not?"

"At this time, I know of...perhaps a dozen within a league of here," replied Rúmil, gesturing for Glorfindel to follow.

"Do you command them?"

"No. My brother does."

"Ah."

They reentered the woods, but it was not long before they came to a wall of gray rock, taller than an Elf. Glorfindel saw a narrow, winding fissure.

"Is that it? Don't Men know about it?" he asked.

"Yes, and yes. But the rock is unstable, and they dare not enter."

Glorfindel gaped at him. "Unstable, yet you live in there?"

"The rock is only unstable when it needs to be. That is, when we need it to be."

"You fool them?"

"Easily."

Glorfindel shook his head, chuckled. "You are all far too clever for your own good. But how can you hunt?"

Rumil grinned, produced a card from a pouch on his belt. "With this."

Glorfindel approached him, studied it; a photograph, date of birth, name, address... "A hunting license?"

"Aye."

"Do you not need personal information to obtain one?"

Rúmil laughed. "Of course not; we are far too clever for our own good! You cannot seriously think this is legitimate!

"You forged it?!"

"Certainly."

"What if you-"

"My lord, we know how to look after ourselves. You needn't worry."

Glorfindel sighed. "I suppose..."

"Good." Rúmil pointed into the darkness. "After you."

(l)

Thanks for reading!

Note: I've never seen a hunting license before, so don't take my word for it! :D At least one more update before November first. I have an English paper that needs research/writing and a history paper that needs...everything. Count on seeing one more chapter; after that, I'm not sure. I want to get him to Celeborn before November.

Translations:

º"Man nan ha? Im gerin ú-": Who is it? I've never-

º"Tolo dad, Midhegaer!":Come down, Midhegaer!

º"Govad-le sen ellon": Meet this visitor! lit. You meet this visitor

º"Man nan ha?": Who is it?

º"Hîr Glorfindel, o Imladris!" Lord Glorfindel of Imladris

º"Mae govannen, Midhegaer": Well met, Midhegaer.

º"Mae govannen, hîr Glorfindel: Well met, Lord Glorfindel

º"Eria-le, ù-baur an c": Rise, no need to bow lit. You rise, no need to bow

º yéni: (Quenya) period of 122 solar years

Review Responses:

Stuntz: They're here, don't worry! All safe! :P And there will be more in the next chapter.

Kathira: Thank you! That was the ultimate compliment, right there- you made my week!

Crystal113: I answered the hunting question for you. I've been on hiking/biking/canoeing trips before and have stayed in national parks (America and Canada only, though)- some allow hunting or fishing with a license. In Canada, I know, one can obtain a license and fish or hunt moose. I hope this helped!

Dark Borg Drone: But the printer still had enough paper to print you work, I hope? It would be horrible if it didn't...

Aranel3: Thank you for both reviews and your comments! Glorfindel is very enjoyable to write- I'll miss him when this is done! :D

Kazbels: Thanks for the compliment and the 'good luck'- I really appreciate it. It went very well, and I'm feeling much better.

Noldo: Thanks! Everything turned out well, and I'm doing fine. About NaNo, I understand completely. This year and the next essentially decide where I'm going for uni, what scholarships I get, etc...it's nerve-wracking for everyone, but in the end, the work is all worth it (I hope!). I don't plan on finishing NaNo- I just want to make a dent in my original work. I need motivation and pressure to work, and I hope NaNo will give me that. I'm really enjoying your Feanor and Nerdanel story- it's much too good to end this soon! :P