Chapter Two

"Shh, quiet Saeros!" the young elfling, Daeron, whispered harshly. "You are as loud as an orc!"

"Am not!" Saeros, a small blond elfling whispered back, though his voice had rose at the accusation.

"Shush!" Legolas whispered to the both of them, putting a finger to his lips as a scowl crossed his face at the both of them. "Be quiet," he reprimanded of his friends and pointed towards the bushes that were in front of them. The three elflings crouched low and peered through gaps in the snow covered branches of the bush. They could make out two figures clearly and a hush whisper of a deeper, masculine voice. Legolas motioned for his friends to crawl closer.

As the three leaned closer, the whispers started to be made clearer. Legolas and his friends had to suppress their giggles as they figured out what was being discussed.

"My Adar says I could not have made a better decision when it comes to love," a feminine voice whispered. The figures leaned together and kissed lightly. Their arms wrapped around each other. "Though I think perhaps a husband not quite so handsome would have done better," she chuckled to herself. "then I should not have to worry about some ellyth coming to steal him away."

There was a laugh and the other whispered to her, "You will not have to worry about that," he kissed her cheek. "I prefer the maidens with child bearing hips," he pinched her sides and she let out a giggle and slapped his hands away.

"Kelderas!" She scolded, her face blushing. "One day I may take your jesting to heart and run off with a younger elf. Perhaps your brother…" She laughed at his look of horror. "Kidding only," she laughed.

"Do not joke of such things, Arminas!" Kelderas admonished. "Legolas is far too young."

At that, Daeron and Saeros turned wide eyes to Legolas, who was blushing intensely. The young elfling tried to think of something to say, but ended up clearing his throat instead, causing both Kelderas and Arminas to look their way. At first, the elflings didn't move, thinking they wouldn't be spotted. But when Kelderas rose, his face scrunched into a glare, Daeron and Saeros stood and ran. Legolas stood, and said, "I…we…bye!" Legolas took off after his friends, hurrying to catch up with their fleeing forms.

When they reached the edge of the woods, the three elflings were breathless with laughter. Saeros fell to the ground, holding his stomach while Daeron walked over to Legolas and clapped him on the back. "Well, what are you going to do now that you know Arminas loves you?"

Legolas rolled his eyes and shook his head. "She doesn't love me. She was teasing only."

"My Ada says that when girls tease that means they love you!" Saeros chimed in from his place on the ground. Legolas frowned, his mouth quirking to the side.

"But she wasn't teasing me. She was teasing Kelderas." Legolas protested.

"That doesn't matter," Daeron answered, sitting down on a root against a tree and lacing his hands behind his back. "She was teasing about you, and that means she loves you." Daeron crossed his legs at the ankles and a smug look came to his face. "I was teased once, you know."

"You were?" Saeros asked, sitting up and looking at Daeron. Legolas stood, giving them both unbelieving looks.

"I was," Daeron nodded.

"By who?" Saeros asked, scooting closer.

"By Nellas."

"That's ridiculous!" Legolas protested, shaking his head. "She teases us all." He went to sit down beside Daeron, mimicking his friend's lazy posture. "Besides, I don't think that teasing has anything to do with love, no matter what your Adar says, Saeros."

Saeros looked mildly offended by Legolas' comment. He pulled some snow into his hands and molded it into a snowball, his nose upturned. "Well my Ada should know," he countered. "He bonded with my Naneth because she teased him." Saeros said in a matter-of-fact voice. "So that proves it."

Legolas was about to protest more when suddenly a snowball hit him in the chest. He gasped, startled by the sudden attack, but when he looked to see who had thrown it, he knew a battle was about to break out. Nellas, a blond ellyth and their good friend, stood with a snowball in her hand. She wore a winter tunic over a skirt and the wind was blowing her hair. Legolas took in her sight. All that talk of love and teasing had gotten Legolas thinking. If there was one person he never minded being teased by, it was Nellas. And if teasing meant love, then he supposed he loved Nellas. She had, after all, thrown the first snowball of the winter at him.

Though he was slow to react, for Saeros already had a snowball in hand. He stood up and with a war whoop, hurled it through the air. "It's war!" Daeron yelled, gaining his feet and following example. Legolas was disappointed that he wasn't the first to retaliate, but soon joined the others in the full out war of snowballs.

The snowball fight lasted for a couple of hours before the tired elflings decided to call it a day. Daeron and Saeros waved goodbye to Legolas before they ran home. Legolas waited behind a little, while Nellas was wiping the snow from her skirts. He walked over to her, trying to think of something to say. "Nellas?" He asked quietly. Nellas turned to him, still laughing softly from the fight. "I…" Legolas tried but stopped himself. He couldn't bring himself to say anything to her. So instead, he just smiled and patted her shoulder. "Thanks."

Nellas looked at him oddly before smiling. She patted his shoulder back. "Normally you don't thank people for throwing snowballs at you."

"I know," Legolas said.

Nellas just shook her head and then waved. "Tell your Adar I say hello," she called over her shoulder as she ran home.

Legolas watched her go before he sighed and turned to head back towards the palace. He walked up the steps and smiled to the guards before he entered the palace, dripping wet from head to toe as the snow melted on his clothes. He shivered slightly before entering the throne room. He had to talk to his Adar about love and teasing. But when he opened the door, he was surprised to find that his Adar had company and that company was a small party from Rivendell. Legolas' thoughts of love were instantly disregarded for the moment as his face lit up at the sight of his Noldor friends.

"Glorfindel!" Legolas called, smiling widely. "Elladan, Elrohir, Arwen! What are you doing here?" He asked, running over to them and going to hug them before Thranduil intercepted him with a hand.

"Legolas," Thranduil said, taking in Legolas' bedraggled appearance. "You're soaking wet." Then he noticed the slight shiver as Legolas looked down at himself. "And freezing," he muttered. "Go get changed and then you may say hello to your guests."

Legolas frowned, looking to Glorfindel and the others, who were all smiling at him. "Fall in a stream?" Elrohir joked, noticing Legolas' dripping tunics.

The young elfling sighed before he started walking towards his chamber, looking dejected. "Teased by ellyths," he announced, his forlorn eyes looking at his father, as though he would take pity on him. Thranduil just raised an eyebrow and motioned with his hands for Legolas to scoot. Legolas frowned again before exiting the throne room.

As soon as the doors closed, Elladan and Elrohir broke into laughter. "He sure has that look down," Elladan said to Thranduil. "He looked quite the image of a little urchin."

Thranduil laughed at the comment. "Indeed," he shook his head before rising and motioning to a few guards. "Let them show you to your rooms. Same as usual," Thranduil smiled. "Then you can warm up and tell me of the coming and goings in Rivendell. I hear Mithrandir stopped by not so long ago."

Arwen perked up at this. "He did!" She piped. "He gave me a present as well!"

"Oh did he?" Thranduil asked, amused by the young elfling's enthusiasm. "What did he give you?"

Arwen seemed to hesitate before she answered. She looked over at her brothers, who quirked their eyebrows in curiosity before going on. "Well I didn't want them to know, but there's no harm I suppose." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a stone. "It's a magic stone!" She held it up for Thranduil to inspect. He leaned down to do just that.

"Oh? What does it do?" He asked, smiling at Glorfindel who looked just as pleased at Arwen's enthusiasm and cheer.

Arwen grinned. "It keeps trolls out of my room," she said proudly and then held her chin up. "And that includes Elladan and Elrohir."

"What?" Both of the twins squawked at the same time, their eyes going wide. "Mithrandir told you that?"

"Yup," Arwen said, putting the stone back into her pocket as Thranduil and Glorfindel broke into laughter. "And he also said that you two aren't allowed to touch it or the next time he saw you, he'd turn you into toads."

Elladan mocked horror. Though he turned to his brother and said. "Elrohir, dear brother, I believe we shall have to have a word or two with Mithrandir."

"Yes," Elrohir agreed. "We need to ask for a stone that keeps stink beetles out of our rooms."

Arwen's face puckered in anger. "I'm not a stink beetle!"

"You fooled me!" Elrohir joked, grabbing his little sister and swinging her into the air.

As the twins and Arwen continued to joke and jest, Thranduil pulled Glorfindel aside. "Something tells me this was not a mere friendly visit," he ventured, looking at the tired bags beneath Glorfindel's eyes. The proud warrior sighed and smiled at his friend.

"You know me too well, mellon nin." He replied. "Something has been troubling me lately, though I know not what. I thought that perhaps a trip to Mirkwood would help me figure it out."

Thranduil smiled sympathetically, though his eyes took on a saddened under tone. "I appreciate your respect and love for my family. Though I think your choices in relaxing getaways could have been more wisely chosen. The darkness from the south has been growing, as much as we have tried to stop it. Though we have kept our spirits high, I fear that one day we will have to face whatever it is that is causing this darkness."

Glorfindel nodded, not knowing what else to say. Thranduil let the words sink in for a moment before he put a hand on Glorfindel's shoulder. "Come, mellon nin. You must be tired from your journey. We will let you rest for a while and then perhaps you would join us for dinner?"

"We'd be delighted," Glorfindel answered, corralling the twins and Arwen towards the halls so they could get to their rooms and unpack. Glorfindel sighed. He hoped his mind would be put as ease in Mirkwood, that somehow he'd be able to get a peaceful sleep, without nightmares. For some reason, he doubted he would be given that blessing.

Review Responses:

Deana: Thank you. :-) I can't wait to see what trouble they get into either.

Action is on the way. This will have a sort of slow, cute beginning, but the action is on the way, trust me.