Chapter 112: Tonus gets hurt

Tonus rode quickly. He was using his father's horse and he knew that if Thranduil was in better conditions he would receive a punishment for using his father's horse with no permission, but Tonus could not find any other horses fast enough to catch up with Cield. The only problem was that this horse, Súldâl, which had been rescued from vile men, was barely tamed and trusted Thranduil, had bitten Cield four times, barely trusted Tonus and had even eaten two of Legolas' hats and one pedestrian's sock. Tonus hoped that Súldâl would obey him; in the case anything would have happened to Cield.

Tonus saw Cield up ahead. Tonus whispered to Súldâl and soon they where side-by-side to Cield. Cield came to a sudden halt, and Tonus stopped just afterwards.

"What do you want, gwador?" Cield snarled, not too pleased with his eldest brother.

"Ada is fine, and I have been sent to get you to return home."

"Why should I listen to YOU?"

"Because I am your elder brother, and this message was sent from our father."

"Because of you, I was sent to Imladris and not permitted to heal my father! I wished to heal Adar, so in that way, he would think better of me!"

"Think better of you? You? Adar has loved you more than he has ever loved me! Adar spent all his time with you. I came to him with little drawings I made just for him, I showed him when I built my first arrow, and all he ever said was 'that's wonderful sweetheart, now excuse me, your little brother needs me for some minutes, I'll see you soon'... Cield, it hurt! I felt unloved, and I despised you. I just wanted to grab you from Adar's arms and kill you! It is why I bullied you and teased you! All I have ever wished for is that one day Adar just spent time with me, just a bit, to show me how much he really loved me! And when Adar woke up when I healed him, and told me how proud he was of me, it made me feel so loved by ada, just like whenever Ada would take me in his arms and sing to me softly to help me sleep, and it has been long since then!" Tonus said.

These memories had hurt Tonus all his life, and where one of the many reasons he was so quiet and so upset. Also it was one of the reasons he had dated so many she-elves and had been rejected by all of them so many times.

"I will come with you, Tonus. Only because I wish to see my child's birth, and I wish to have a tight bond with my child, who, I can only hope is a son... If I dont return with you, valar knows if I ever will return home, and I will miss all that if I do." Cield said. He rode over to Tonus, where his elder brother put an arm on Cield's shoulder.

"I love you Cield, though I have never really... wanted to admit it." Tonus said quietly. Cield playfully gave Tonus a punch on his shoulder.

"I hate you too, Tonus." Cield grinned.

Tonus smiled, but then the friendly punch seemed to upset Súldâl, who suddenly stood on her hind legs, whining loudly and fiercely. Tonus gasped as he slid from the horse, being taken by surprise, and the horse bore no reins to hold onto. Tonus was sent flying head first into a tree, and he made no sign of life as he hit the ground. Súldâl rode off, but Cield could not care less. He dismounted his horse and ran quickly to where his brother lay.

"Valar, please, please don't let him die!" Cield whispered, shutting his eyes as he turned Tonus' body over so he could see his face. Cield did not want to look. He did not want to know if he had killed Tonus by schocking his horse. He did not want to know if he would be crying over his brother's dead body. Cield felt someone stroking his golden hair, and at first thought it was Thranduil, as that was how Thranduil had always stroked his children's hair. But was not, but instead Tonus was reaching up and running his fingers down Cield's hair.

"I am not dead, gwador. You may look." Tonus whispered feebly. Cield opened his eyes to see Tonus smiling weakly up at him. Cield gave his brother a tight embrace, but when he removed his hand from the back of Tonus' head, Cield gasped.

"What is wrong?" Tonus asked. Cield nervously showed Tonus his blood covered hand, and Cield turned Tonus over. Cield pressed Tonus against his chest as he flipped his elder brother's hair over his shoulder, revealing the back of his head, which was cracked open, blood coming from the wound.

"Is it... bad?" Tonus asked. Cield bit his lip and nodded his head.

"Does it hurt?" Cield looked at Tonus.

"...So badly." Tonus whispered, clutching Cield's hand in pain.

"I will get you home." Cield whispered. Tonus smiled at him, and shut his eyes as he drifted asleep, completely trusting his younger brother.

Cield was some inches taller than Tonus (who was the exact same height and weight as his father), and found ease in lifting Tonus, considering the fact that Thranduil, who was barely eye level with Cield, managed to carry Cield with ease. Cield mounted his horse, bringing Tonus with him, and held him in his arms as he rode toward his home.

------In Mirkwood-------

"Legolas!" Haldir ran into the guest bedroom, where the elfling was nowhere to be found. Exploring the room, Haldir found Legolas was hiding in the guest room closet. It was clear that Legolas was ashamed of himself, and there was a bruise on his soft forehead.

"Legolas, what is wrong?"

"I was a bad elfling."

"No you weren't!"

"Yes I was, because to punish me you left me alone in the bedroom for a long, long, long, long, long time! I deserve a beating because I was bad," Legolas sighed. "So I thought maybe Ada would be happier if I gave myself my beating so he would not have to. I found a belt in with your box of clothes but it was too heavy for me to carry, so I banged my head on the wall. It hurt though, so I stopped when I got a lumpy brown spot on my head."

"Oh, cherub, if anyone deserves a beating it is I. I deserve a good beating, because I forgot about you! I was helping your ada is all... this is no punishment!"

"Oh. Who is going to give you your beating?"

Haldir sighed and sat down beside Legolas.

"Well, I do not know."

"Can I?"

"If you want..." Haldir muttered. He did not expect a beating today. But since Legolas was an elfling, Haldir did not mind. Legolas grabbed a pillow and threw it at Haldir, then messed up Haldir's perfectly combed hair.

"There. Now you learnt a lesson."

Haldir smiled at the elfling and snatched him off the floor, kissing him all over his little face. Legolas giggled and screeched until Haldir stopped kissing him.

"Your father wishes to see you."

"Yay! I can go see Ada?"

"Yes."

Haldir took Legolas to Thranduil, where the king smiled at his youngest son.

"Hello, my precious little Greenleaf. I missed you so much." Thranduil whispered as Haldir lay Legolas down beside Thranduil. Legolas was about to climb onto Thranduil's chest when Haldir stopped him.

"Ada, why won't Haldiw let me sit on your chest? Can't I? Tell Haldiw I can sit on you!"

"Sorry ion-nin, but you cannot sit on me. I am injured and I could get very damaged if you sit on me." Thranduil sighed, kissing his son's head.

"Get better soon, please."

"I will, I will." Thranduil smiled at his beautiful elfling.

"How long will you be hurt?"

"I am not certain, but Haldir will watch you until I can walk again. At the moment, my leg is in a cast and is healing fairly." Thranduil said quietly. Cield then suddenly peaked his head through the door, sweat and tears running down his face, blood on his tunic and in his hair, and dried blood on his hands.

"Haldir, please, I need help... it's Tonus... come, I will explain outside, as I do not wish to worry my father and Legolas..." Cield said, panicked. As much as Thranduil wished to know what was the matter, he looked down at Legolas and sighed. Neither he nor the elfling knew what was going on, and it made him feel as young as Legolas. Thranduil placed his arms around Legolas' small body, kissed his little golden head of hair and fell asleep.

Haldir gasped at what Cield carried in his arms, the blood covered thing that Cield claimed was Tonus. The wound needed healing immediately.

To be continued...