=D Yep! I'm back already! What can I say? I missed you all... ;-) A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO WISHED ME A HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I had a wonderful time! =) Thank you all for reviewing too! It's seems like all of you beloved repeat readers were going nuts for this one!

So, HELLO to anyone who is new to the series! Previous titles are:

-= Hope and Greenleaf =-

-= An Inseparable Duo =-

-= Fight Your Fears =-

-= Woes of the World =-

and

-= Red Sun Rising =-

Please read Red Sun Rising before reading this fic. This is because A LOT of things in this instalment were set up in that. I'd also recommend you read all of the others as well, just so you can keep track of all the original characters. There are very important ones (like Hal) and some merely fairly important ones (like Tebridë). They're all important somehow anyway... ;-)

Oh yes... in regards to an email about chapter 9 of R.S.R from Karrie, and the review from Dha; thank you both for pointing that out to me! I've now fixed that. ;-)

So, grab some popcorn, sit back, and relax, because here comes the traditional chapter... after all, it wouldn't be much of a story without one, eh? ;-)

.: Chapter One :.

The scene was calm and serene; birds twittered chirpily in the leafy green trees, the sun was making its way merrily across the sky, and the clear water of the water hole was gently rippling quietly to itself, the large grey rocks reflecting on its surface.

It was perfect...

"WHOOO!!!"

A tall, skinny, dark haired boy in short trousers leapt off of the largest rock, brought his knees up and bombed into the water with an incredible splash. The resulting wave rushed outwards and splashed up the bank, soaking two irate Elves.

"ESTEL!" they roared in unison.

Estel's head broke the surface. "Sorry Dan, sorry Legolas!" he called, treading on water without difficulty. He was enjoying himself immensely. The past few weeks in Rivendell had seen very hot weather, which was expected to last another month or so. He'd felt like he'd been dying in the heat, unlike his family and friends who hadn't really noticed it, so this chance to come swimming was a relief.

Suddenly, a pair of arms shot out from under the water and pulled him down. As the human sank, Hallataulë emerged from underneath, laughing his head off. After a couple of seconds, he allowed the boy to swim back up.

Estel splashed the eldest Mirkwood Prince. "Don't do that!" he spluttered.

Hallataulë splashed him back. "Do what?"

"Do that!" replied Estel. The Elf suddenly grinned mischievously and dunked him under again.

As the pair bickered, Legolas rolled his eyes.

"This," he stated sarcastically, pointing to Hallataulë who was howling with laughter. "Is to be ruler of our Kingdom one day." He shook his head in mock despair. "We're doomed..."

He and Elladan laughed.

The youngest Prince was sitting with his feet in the water, watching. He wasn't allowed in the water with his still healing stitches, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to get a little wet today.

Elladan, however, was forbidden completely from even contemplating getting wet. A crisp white bandage was wrapped around his injured ankle, therefore wrecking any chances of him being able to swim. After the bad breakage, the bones were healing quite nicely and now he could walk gingerly on it, though not too far, and Elrond reckoned that it wouldn't be long before he'd be 'up to his old tricks again'... before hastily adding that that may not be such a good thing...

"Well, this is fun," sighed Legolas, kicking his feet in the crystalline pool. He gazed longingly out at his brother and best friend having fun.

"Well, at least we're outside," said Elladan. "Imagine how poor Ro feels..."

Elrohir still hadn't recovered enough from his bout with a deadly poison a month ago for him to be up and about, even though he insisted he was perfectly fine. As a result, the poor Elf had spent the past four weeks cooped up indoors...

-=-=-=-

Elrohir stared at his fingers. They were covered in black charcoal dust, and he sighed. Elladan had given him a book with blank pages and charcoal to keep him amused. Of course, they'd kept it a secret from their father; if Lord Elrond had seen the state his patient was getting into with it, he'd have banned those weeks ago. It just simply wasn't hygienic...

He had now managed to fill the entire book with drawings in just four weeks. After scrutinising his latest creation with a critical eye, he had shut the book over and placed into the drawer in his bedside cabinet. Then he had noticed his mucky fingers.

Eyes darting towards the door sneakily, Elrohir slowly lifted the cover of his bed and wiped his hands clean on the sheets. He smiled knowingly to himself. 'Ada will never know...'

He was supposed to be sleeping; resting so that he could regain his strength, but the truth of the matter was that, firstly, he felt fine, and secondly, he was so unbelievably bored that he would probably burst into tears at any moment. Unsurprising then, that sleep wasn't quite at the top of his agenda.

One part of his mind was telling him that he would not be so bored right now if the others were all here to keep him company. He shook that thought from his head though; it had been him that had told them to go off and enjoy themselves for a day anyway. They had all been trying far too hard to keep him cheery and it was nice to get some peace and quiet on his own.

And, all the silence had aided him in concocting his master plan. He went over it one more time in his mind... 'Yes, that should work...' he thought.

Hearing the door handle rattle suddenly, he quickly lay down on the bed, pulling the cover over himself and turning on his side. He then half-shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

Elrond entered the room. He set his medicines down on the small bedside table and shook Elrohir gently. "Wake up ion nin," he whispered.

Elrohir pretended to blink himself awake. "Oh... quel amrun Ada," said, yawning loudly to enhance the effect. [good morning father]

"How are you feeling today?" asked his father. Elrohir suppressed a grin; this was what he'd been waiting to hear.

"Well, actually Ada, now that you mention it," he began innocently, twiddling the sheets in his fingers. "I'm feeling a lot better now! In fact, I think I'll probably be able to go back out with the others soon-"

"Well, we'll see about that," interjected Elrond. Elrohir nodded. He knew agreeing with his father would get his father to agree with him.

"- Yes of course, but my point is; I've been thinking."

"Oh really?" asked Elrond absentmindedly, as he flicked the base of a thin, blown-glass tube.

"Yes! Ada, I have a-" He was abruptly cut off as Elrond popped the small contraption in his mouth.

"Keep that underneath your tongue," said the Elven Lord flatly as he continued his routine. Elrohir rolled his eyes and sat, arms folded, as the glass stick read his temperature.

It was quite an ingenious invention actually; the small blob at the end in his mouth was filled with a heat-sensitive liquid which would rise up the thin tube depending on the temperature under your tongue, but it annoyed him to no end, because it meant Elrond could easily tell when they were sick or not.

After a minute or so, Elrond removed the stick from Elrohir's mouth. "Ah; 36 degrees Elrohir... that's wonderful! No more temperature..."

Elrohir nodded innocently for a second time. "Truly Ada. Now, as I was saying; I have an idea. It would be awfully nice to get out of the house once all this is over with, and I was considering a small, tiny, miniscule, short, non-life threatening-"

"Please get to the point Elrohir," said Elrond flatly.

"A hunting trip."

Elrond looked at him suspiciously. His son was still recovering from the last time they'd went on a hunting trip... was this such a good idea?

Well, Elrohir did have a good point... he hadn't been out of the buildings in weeks. Plus the larders and pantries were quite low...

"Alright Elrohir, I suppose you can go..." he began. Elrohir's face brightened.

"But," continued the Elf Lord. Elrohir's face fell again. "First, you have to wait till you get better, and second, I don't want any of you going beyond the border patrol, understood?"

Elrohir was speechless for a moment. 'Well that was unexpected...' he thought, amazed. He'd expected to have to try and persuade Elrond for a lot longer than that! Then his tongue came back to him, and he beamed. "Hannon lle Ada!"

As Elrond left the room, he stopped and cringed. 'What have I done?!'

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to describe a thermometer without actually calling it a thermometer?! Phew! Actually, I really enjoyed doing this chapter; I laughed a few times writing it, and even though it's not brash, in-your-face humour, I hoped you found it amusing too... hmmm; I've just noticed, I always seem to make the first chapters quite light and sometimes even humourous, and then everything suddenly just gets dark...

Cool! ;-) Lol!

This first chapter was dedicated to my best friends; Becky (who inspired Elrohir's drawing obsession in this chapter ;-D), Becca, and Hannah, for making my birthday the best one ever... THANKS GUYS!!!

Please R&R! It means a lot to me!!! =D Oh, and if anyone can remember how to get into the Highly Recommended section, could you please tell me? ;-) Thanks!