Chapter 2-A little learning can be a dangerous thing

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or places featured in this story.

Author's notes: OK, this is the second chapter of what may be a series (up to you, please review) Please review and help me to improve my writing. Constructive criticism welcome, so please tell me where I've made mistakes.

The next morning began slowly. The sun rose to shine on half melted snow, and birds half-heartedly sang to greet the dawn. Elrohir blinked his eyes into focus and sat up, stretching his arms out and yawning to shake off sleep. He got out of bed, dressed, then went to wake his brother.

"Elladan," he said, prodding the mound of blankets on the bed, "wake up." Elladan, however, didn't respond, and it was obvious to Elrohir that he wasn't about to get up anytime soon.

Deciding that he was going to have to wait a while before he could go outside with his brother and play in the snow, he wandered off in search of a way to entertain himself.

Ambling aimlessly down the corridor, Elrohir wondered what to do. Nothing came to mind and boredom was fast approaching when he came to a door. That was when an idea hit him. He'd enjoyed listening to Glorfindel's story the previous night and perhaps he could read some more about trolls in the library.

Erestor was also in the library that morning, as he thought that it would be a good place to find peace and quiet. He was somewhat disheartened therefore, when Elrohir walked in. Happy as he was to help the young elfling if he wanted something in the library, he had rather hoped he was going to be able to spend a few hours alone.

"Erestor," Elrohir said, "Can you help me find a book?"

"What book were you wanting?" Erestor asked, and Elrohir thought for a moment. He wasn't sure what kind of book he wanted, it would be interesting to find a book that had information in about trolls, but then again, stories about adventure and battles were slightly more appealing.

"A book with trolls in," he decided out loud, "and with adventures and exciting battles."

"Well," Erestor stood and walked over to a bookshelf, then took down a book from one of the higher shelves. "I think this one fits your description, why don't you sit at the table and read. I'm going to go and find Glorfindel, because he has some paperwork that's overdue." He handed the book to Elrohir and walked off, in search of Glorfindel, hoping afterwards to find somewhere he could be alone.

"Thank you Erestor," Elrohir said, and sat down at the table, blowing dust off the cover of the book and opening it.

From the very first page, he knew it was a book he could really enjoy. The writing transported him to another world, and he could almost believe he was there, and that it was him having such amazing adventures.

Before he realised, he had spent two whole hours reading, and he was turning the final page. He was disappointed that the story was over, and resolved to come back to the library again soon to find another book. However, now he felt that it was time to do something more energetic. Surely Elladan must be awake by now.

Unfortunately, now he had the problem of how to return the book. It was too high up for him to reach, and there was no one else in the library. Looking around him for inspiration, his eyes landed on a chair.

Quickly measuring the distance in his head, he decided that the chair was about the right height. Moving it so it was next to the bookcase, he climbed up with the book held under his arm. He grabbed hold of a shelf with one hand and pulled himself up so he was balanced on the back of the chair.

He reached up but couldn't quite reach the shelf where the book had come from.

Just a little higher…

He stood on his tiptoes and pushed the book onto the shelf with his index finger. "Almost…" he stuck his tongue out in concentration and leant a bit further forwards. Finally the book slid into its place and Elrohir sighed in relief then relaxed.

Unfortunately, this caused him to lose his balance, and he was suddenly acutely aware that he was tiptoeing precariously on the back of a chair. This was how, in a very short period of time, Elrohir learnt several things.

The first of which was that the back of a chair is not a very safe place to stand. The second was that when losing your balance on the back of a chair, windmilling your arms doesn't tend to help. The third and final thing Elrohir learnt was that falling off the chair and dragging half the contents of the bookshelf with you hurts. It hurts a lot.

Elrond was wandering the halls when he heard the crash. He gasped and dashed towards the source of the noise.

"Ada!"

The wail sent cold shivers down his spine and set his heart pounding in his chest. It was one of the twins.

The sight that met Elrond when he stepped into the library was chaotic. Books were scattered all over the floor and one of the bookcases had toppled over and leant against a wall. He could hear crying, so he stepped closer to try and determine where it was coming from. Eventually he spotted a hand sticking out of the mound of books and set about rescuing the young elfling it was attached to.

"Ada…" Within a minute, the small figure of Elrohir was visible, curled up on the floor, clutching one arm tight to his chest.

"It's alright Elrohir," Elrond said, "I'm here," he knelt down next to his son, who was sobbing continuously, tears streaming down his pale face.

"It hurts…" Elrohir wailed, looking up at his father.

"Where does it hurt Elrohir?" Elrond questioned, anxious to know whether it was safe to move the young elf, because he was worried the bookcase might fall.

"My arm," Elrohir replied shakily "just my arm,"

"Alright then," Elrond said, "I'll take you to the healing ward and have a look at your arm." He scooped his son into his arms and carried him out of the library.

Over on the other side of the house, Celebrían and Elladan had also heard the crash, and wanted to know what had happened. Both had a horrible feeling that whatever had happened had something to do with Elrohir.

They set off in the direction of the noise, intent on getting some information. No one they met seemed to have any more of idea than they did however, and the closest they got to actually finding anything was when they got to the library.

What they found there wasn't exactly comforting. The entire library was a total mess, with books everywhere, and a bookcase lying on a table. "What happened?" Celebrían asked out loud, and Elladan merely stared in amazement at the mess that even rivalled his room.

Having a bad feeling about the situation, they decided to head to the healing wards. When they got there though, they were faced with Glorfindel, who was standing outside the door. "I'm sorry," he apologised, "But you can't go in there at the moment, I don't think Lord Elrond needs to be disturbed. He has told me to assure you that Elrohir was not badly injured but that he needs some quiet for a while."

Celebrían frowned, and glared at Glorfindel. There was no way that Glorfindel was going to stop her from seeing Elrohir, no matter how minor his injury was.

"Hmm…" Elrond inspected Elrohir's arm carefully, while his son sat on the edge of one of the beds. The elfling had already told him what had happened on the way to the healing wards.

"Is it broken ada?" Elrohir enquired nervously, biting back tears when Elrond accidentally knocked his arm slightly.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Elrond replied, "but it should heal quickly. However, I would advise that in future you ask someone for help if you can't reach a shelf."

Elrohir nodded and sat still while his arm was set, feeling a little foolish about what had happened. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't think I would fall off,"

Elrond smiled and ruffled the elfling's hair. "Just be careful," he said, hoping that the words would sink in. Before he could say more, there was a knock at the door, and Celebrían walked in with Elladan in tow. "It appears you have visitors," he remarked.

"El!" Elladan bounded up to his twin, "I was worried-me and naneth had to ask so many people to find out what happened because Glorfindel wouldn't let us in here."

Celebrían smiled inwardly, she doubted Glorfindel would ever try to prevent her from seeing her son again.

"So what really happened?" Elladan asked.

"I went to the library," Elrohir began, but Elladan interrupted him.

"No, no," he said, "just tell me the exciting part-what did you do to your arm?"

"He fell off a chair, and pulled a bookcase down with him." Elrond stepped in, because he noticed how tired Elrohir looked. "I think that we should let Elrohir get some rest for a while," he suggested, but Elladan didn't take the hint.

"Is it broken?" The older twin asked, and Elrohir nodded. "Can I touch it?" He reached over and Elrohir shuffled backwards, pulling his arm away from his twin.

"No!" He exclaimed, "It'll hurt!"

"Elladan," Elrond placed a hand on his son's shoulder "your brother will no doubt tell you everything later, but for now, I think he'd better rest."

"How are you feeling dear?" Celebrían asked, hugging Elrohir.

"I'm alright," he replied "it still hurts a bit though,"

"Well you get some rest then," she said, "lunch will be in an hour,"

Elrohir walked off in the direction of his room, followed by Elrond, who was intent on making sure he didn't injure himself further, because he seemed a little unsteady on his feet.

Some hours later, Elrond and Celebrían were sitting outside, discussing the twins. "Rarely a day passes" Elrond said "when one of them doesn't cause some havoc, or injure themselves in some way. I may be immortal, but I'm sure I'm getting grey hairs."

"Ah, the joys of children," sighed Celebrían.

Elvish translations (I think)

Ada-Daddy

Naneth-Mother

Author's notes: Please review, I know this chapter wasn't really very good, so I would appreciate any suggestions on how to improve it. I also apologise for the bad quality writing. I'm sorry please forgive me; I did try though. The next chapter, if anyone wants to read it, is called Swimming Lessons.