Chapter 9: Discoveries

Disclaimer: I do not own the Lord of the Rings, and I'm gaining no money from this.

Author's notes: Please excuse the lateness of this chapter. I had to hand in a lot of projects, and homework. But more is coming soon. I am really sorry!

Slowly, careful not to jostle too much his injured ribs, he turned around. There on the snow were two figures. He then noted that one was an Elf, the other a human. Those were Estel and Legolas! He had found them. Now they could all search for Elrohir, who was still missing.

He tried to run to them, to tell them that he was alright. But he only managed to walk with difficulty. His right high was hurting more, and his ribs hurt if he jostled them too much.

It was then that he saw them coming towards him. He could not be more grateful.

"Elladan!" Estel screech at the top of his lungs, as he came running along with Legolas to his brother.

"Elladan" Estel breathed a sigh of relief as he hugged his Elven brother. He was there, alive and apparently well. "I thought I had lost you gwador-nin" Estel said, still held tightly by his brother.

"I am here Estel, I am going to be fine. Do not worry for me" Elladan said, trying to reassure his little brother.

"Elladan, are you alright? We thought that you were caught in the avalanche" Legolas asked his friend out of concern seeing him pale and tired.

"Yes, I am fine, do not worry over me. We need to find Elrohir" he said.

"We are not going anywhere until you tell us what happened" Estel said.

"Well, we spent the night in a cave after loosing you two from our sight. In the morning we decided to head straight to Rivendell, but we climbed a little higher, trying to spot you two. Then the avalanche came" at this point Elladan's voice broke a little, and he continued "Elrohir shouted my name after we got separated by the avalanche, and I never heard him again. I think he is still alive, for I can sense him, but I don't think he will remain like that for long".

"Do not worry mellon-nin, Elrohir is strong, we will find him alive. Do not fret, for in little time you two along with Estel will be playing pranks on all of Rivendell, terrorizing its poor habitants as usual." Legolas said, trying somewhat to lighten the situation. He squeezed Elladan's left arm.

"Thanks Legolas, Estel. Come let us continue looking for Elrohir" He said.

"No, until you have your injuries at least checked up by Estel, then we may continue" Legolas stated.

"But I am fine. We must continue looking!" This earned him a glare from Estel, as his healer instinct told him to check and make sure Elladan was really fine.

"Look, mellon-nin, I know you want to look for Elrohir, but of what use will you be if you are injured?" Legolas asked.

Elladan thought this, he needed strength to find his twin, and help him.

"Okay, my ribs hurt, and also my right thigh where an orc sliced me thigh in the last battle" He hastily said.

Estel took a look at his injuries, and noticed that the thigh wound was still bleeding a little, so while he checked the ribs, Legolas cut out from his tunic large strips of cloth to use as bandages. Estel bandaged Elladan's ribs, which due to all the jostling during the avalanche were once again cracked, and his leg, not knowing that the injury was worst than they had at first thought.

After Estel realized that he was as fine as he could be, he tried coaxing Elladan to rest a little. Elladan couldn't bring himself to rest while Elrohir was still buried under the snow.

That morning, two Elven lords were together discussing the plans for the searching party. Once again their sons were lost, and Elrond's vision had scarred them, as they didn't know if they would find their sons alive. Glorfindel, the Balrog-Slayer was with them.

They were in Elrond's private study, where no one would bother them. Then there was a silent knock on the door. "Come in" Elrond said, without shifting his eyes off the map.

Haldir, the March-Warden of Lorien entered the study. He knew his friends were in trouble, already knowing that they always came injured. Even sometimes they drag him onto one or another of their pranks, which always led to disaster.

After hearing of his friends' unfortunate hunting trip, he decided that he would help finding them, it was the least he could do. He knew what it was, as he had little brothers, Orophin and Rumil, and when they were elflings, they had also landed in trouble along with Haldir.

Now his friends were in really deep trouble. After the blizzard of last night, Valar knows how they will reach Rivendell. Now they could start the searching party.

"My lords, do you need help with the searching parties?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes Haldir, your help is much welcomed." Elrond said as he beckoned Haldir to sit.

Apparently, they already knew where the scouting parties were heading.

One was going to be led by Glorfindel, another by Thranduil, and the last by Haldir. Elrond, being a warrior, but also a healer, will stay, in case one of them returns injured.

"So this is the plan. Glorfindel you will search in this are over here, while Haldir will search over these mountains, and Thranduil will search on this other part." They all silently agreed, and headed off to prepare everything they would need for the coming journey that awaited them.

Just before Glorfindel opened the door, there was a knock. Thranduil thought that things couldn't get worse. Elrond answered and the servant came in. He brought a message, and important at that.

He bowed slightly before saying "My Lord Elrond, one of the scouting guards you sent this morning ahs returned, with information that he needs to tell you".

"That is fine. Could you please bring him in?" He asked.

A little later there was a knock on the door, and after Elrond answered, a guard came in. He bowed slightly, and said "My Lord Elrond"

Afterward he fell silent, finding the necessary words to continue. Elrond and everyone else were getting a little anxious.

"Please continue" Elrond said.

The guard continued, saying it slowly "My Lord, there has been an avalanche in the mountains west from here. It was big, as it is all covered by snow, and the paths for the horses are blocked. But we think your sons were there after we found this" He said as he showed a piece of cloth to Elrond, the remaining of Elrohir's tunic, after he cut the bandages for Elladan and Legolas after their first encounter with orcs.

Those present in the room instantly fell silent. They weren't expecting this. The tunic was all dirty with frozen mud, torn in several places, and a little short of the actual size it should be.

Elrond grabbed the tunic, and started inspecting it. It wasn't Legolas, that was for sure, as Legolas had worn a dark green tunic. It wasn't Estel's either, as Estel has worn a dark brown one, and warmer than any pertaining to an Elf. So that must belong to one of the twins.

Elrond beckoned to the guard to come closer, and said "Can you tell me where exactly you found this on the map?"

The guard nodded, before pointing to a side of the mountain, just where the path began. Following the path were the caves where the twins, Estel and Legolas had been before the avalanche, to the west, before they turned back and started heading straight to the east.

"I think it was over here, my lord" he said.

"Thank you, this will be of great help to all of us, you may leave" He said.

As the guard exited the door, Elrond turn to face Glorfindel, Thranduil, and Haldir. "I think this belongs to one of the twins".

"Alright, now we know where they must be, let us organize the search parties" Glorfindel said.

"I think it would be wise if we also checked out the area east and west to the place where they found the cloak" Thranduil said.

"I think you are right my lord. Knowing them, they couldn't remain at one place for so long a time" Haldir said.

And with that the four Elves in the room sat again together to discuss important matters, to discuss the plans to find out the heirs to the throne to Gondor, to Rivendell and Mirkwood.

TBC…

Translations:

Gwador-nin: my brother

Mellon nin: my friend

A/N: Again, sorry it took me so long to update, more is coming really soon. This was done in a hurry, so I won't post response to reviewers.