Chapter 11: No Clues

Disclaimer: I do not own the Lord of the Rings, or anything related to it. It belongs to Tolkien

"Have you found anything yet?" Haldir asked one of the soldiers that accompanied him.

"No, anything my lord" the soldier replied.

Haldir gave out an audible sigh. After they had gotten separated from the rest, they still could not find any traces of the missing friends. He was starting to get worried; after all, those four always ended one way or another in trouble.

Thranduil led his party further in the mountains than the other two parties. Apparently, there were heading to the part where the scouting guard had found the cloak.

He could not come to terms with the fact that his son and friends were in trouble again. "Why do they always have to do the same? Go on a hunting trip, and land in trouble. Remain inside and land in trouble or pull a prank?" Always, always, they would get injured, no matter where they were.

He thought it amusing, that the heirs to the thrones of Gondor, Rivendell and Mirkwood could land in so many troubles.

So right now here he was, looking for them, hoping to find them alive, and conscious. He was suddenly distracted from his musings when one guard called him.

"My King, we are really close to the place where the cloak was founded, maybe we should dismount and started searching the ground more closely"

"Yes, you are right, we should live the horses here, and started looking for them" So everyone following the King' orders dismounted and started looking for the missing friends.

Elrohir was really starting to panic. He could not move, he was covered with snow, and there was little space only for his head. His arm also was in a considerable amount of pain.

His mind was racing. He did not know hat he was going to do. He felt weak and tired. He could feel his breath coming short, as claustrophobia made its way known on the poor Elf, as Elves need airy spaces, and don't like caves.

But in this case, Elrohir thought it worst than any cave. He was buried! He was buried under the Valar knows how many snow.

He was really panicking now, when he suddenly heard voices, and steps, although some very lightly, others more strongly, and more in quantity. He couldn't define if they were real or a product of his imagination. Either way he didn't believe them real, although with each passing moment they grew louder and louder.

Suddenly, in desperation, he tried to move, to get up, but the weight and pressure the snow was setting on his arm was just too much to handle, and when he had tried to move, it had only gotten worse.

He tried not to cry out in pain, but it was too much, and he gave in to the blackness that suddenly surrounded him.

Meanwhile, Legolas was lying at the bottom of the trap. He knew that his back was covered in bruises, as well as some parts of his left arm and leg where he had landed.

The walls were really tall, and they were smooth. Not to mention the problem that at the moment there was snow, and they had frozen. One more problem, as he would never get up with the walls frozen and slippery.

He knew there were wolves out there, and he hoped that they didn't jump in to get him. He had his bow and quiver, along with his twin knives, but the angle at what he was not good for shooting from below since the walls were tall and there really was not too much space left to move to use his twin knives.

Still, they had not gotten really close to the trap, and he hoped that it will remain like that until someone came to rescue them. Oh, he was sure someone would come for them, and rescue them. As always, and after the avalanche, he couldn't expect less from his father or Lord Elrond.

Now, with his elven hearing, he could here the paws on the ice. The paws were silent, trying not to make too much noise. They were circling around his trap, waiting for him to emerge to sprang out at him and eat dinner.

Elladan kept looking throughout all the night, also keeping an eye on the human. Still, he hadn't found anything, and he was worried about Legolas also. It was time for him to return.

He knew that something was delaying him, but what, he could not guess. He just hoped that the four of them make it out of the paths of snow, alive and well.

Glorfindel as well was getting desperate. They had gotten off the horses some time ago, and were looking in the snow-covered ground for any clues. The horses needed a well deserved rest, so they let them free for a little, telling them to be just a call away, not knowing if they would need to get to Imladris with haste.

He still couldn't believe the luck those four had. Winter had arrived early, and had snowed in their hunting trip, and snow was rare in the valley! Plus there had been an avalanche, but he wasn't sure if they had gotten trapped in it or no.

Now Anor slowly started appearing in the horizon, bathing the clouds with an orange light. He couldn't believe that they still haven't found them. They must hurry, as they didn't know how long it would take for them to perish in these cold paths.

Estel was asleep. Then he felt a disturbance in his face. It was Anor's light, and he wondered why he was feeling so groggy. He tried going to sleep again, but found that he couldn't, as the sunlight hit him more forcefully. He groaned as he tried at least to turn away from the light.

He couldn't do it, however, as he found himself sitting at the base of a tree. Then it suddenly hit him, he must be searching for Elrohir! He got up as fast as he could, and tried to find Elladan. Elladan was nearby, and after seeing him up, started to make his brother with some difficulty, still limping from his right leg.

"Elladan, have you find out anything" he asked.

"No, Estel, I still haven't found anything" and after seeing more worry on his younger brother he added "but don't worry, I still can feel through our link, he is fine as he could be". He was lying, and he knew it, but what else he could say to calm Estel?

All he felt through their link was despair, and pain. Not to mention the fear that gripped his heart from time to time too strongly. He knew it was Elrohir, his twin, and through their link he could still feel his twin's emotions.

And with that the two brothers set out again looking for Elrohir.

Legolas had fallen asleep sometime during the night as he gave in to exhaustion. He watched the sky as he slowly waked up, and found the wolves gone. Thankfully they decided to dinner something else, and not him. Still he couldn't see the sun, as he was in the hole, but the sky in light blue tones signaling that a new day was coming.

Now, his back hurt more, he realized as he slowly tried to move again. But again found that his intentions were futile as it hurt so much.

So, after getting tired of trying and feeling the intense pain, he felled asleep once more.

Thranduil and the warriors that he had brought with him were still busy looking for anything, any clue that would lead them to his so and friends' whereabouts. Still, not a single clue.

Then a warrior came to him, and said "My King, not too far away from here we had found that the snow is not like here, it is softer, and we think that maybe something is buried in that part"

Thranduil couldn't believe it, finally some clue. However he hoped that the one buried was not too badly wounded. He replied " Alright, lets get there and see what we find".

Together, the mighty King of Mirkwood, and his warriors, started digging out where the snow was soft. It wasn't too hard to remove due to its softness, that after a little while they had already a big whole. Suddenly, on of the warriors exclaimed "My king, we found something!"

Thranduil went to investigate, and he looked where the warrior was digging. Inside the hole was something, so he dug out carefully around it. It was a leg! There was someone buried there!

He called for help, and together he and the four warriors soon uncovered Elrohir. The only problem was that his eyes were shut, and his skin was getting a light blue color, and he lay there deathly still, not moving.

TBC…

Author's notes: Oh! Is that a cliffhanger! I am sorry, but I needed to stop there! But do not worrymore is coming soon now that I am on vacations. Yay!

Translations:

Anor: sun

Response to Reviewers:

HarryEstel: Just thinking about it, maybe you're right, they will lock them up and prevent them from going outside again. Poor elves and ranger. Maybe keeping them inside isn't really safe after all, just think of all they pranks they could pull up together. ;)

Slayer3: Here is another chapter for you mellon nin :)