Disclaimer: See Chapter One.
A/N: Hey there people! Thank you all so much for your lovely reviews! I adore you all! Many many thanks to my beta enb2004 who has a great HP fic that you must read if you are a fan. Now, as promised, here is Chapter Five. Enjoy!
It was in the late hours of the night when Elladan finally began to stir. Much like his little brother, the first sensation that Elladan noticed as the pain he was in. The more aware he became, the more he wanted to sink back in the sweet darkness of oblivion.
The only thing which kept him from doing so was his desire to know where he was. The last thing he clearly remembered was being on horse with Elrohir nudging him to keep awake.
Willing his eyes open, he found to his surprise that he was in the midst of a camp and that he was lying besides a slowly dying fire.
At first, he was a bit alarmed by this, but when he looked around he noticed his twin was sleeping to his right. Elladan winced when he saw the position his brother had fallen asleep in. His neck would be in some serious pain the next day. It seemed that he had fallen asleep while watching over him. Typical.
Looking around some more, he was pleasantly surprised to see his little brother and Legolas. At last, they had caught up with Thranduil.
Elladan looked at his little brother again and frowned at what he saw. Estel was pale, very pale and he sported a bandage around his head. He sighed. Something had happened to Estel already and he hadn't been there to prevent it!
Elladan sat up gingerly and found to his pleasure that he didn't feel to bad, considering the circumstances anyway. When he went to move over to Estel however, his leg protested violently.
Without meaning to, he hissed painfully, accidentally waking Estel in doing so. Elladan cursed when he saw Estel stir. From the looks of it, the last thing his brother needed was to be losing sleep over him. Sure enough though, Estel's bleary gaze fell upon him.
"Elladan! You're awake, thank the Valar. You had us very worried," Estel said as he scooted closer to his brother.
"I had you worried?! You are one to speak tithen gwador. You do not look so well yourself!" Elladan said incredulously.
Estel rolled his eyes and glared at Elladan. "I'm fine Dan, just a bit tired."
This time it was Elladan who rolled his eyes. "Uh huh. I can see just how fine you are. If you're as fine as you claim, why do you have a bandage wrapped around your head?"
Estel winced but grinned weakly at Elladan. "Tis nothing but a scratch. Where is Elrohir anyway? He was supposed to be on watch," Estel said trying to change the subject away from that of his health.
"He fell asleep. More than likely he was exhausted from the fight with the wargs and then caring for me. Naturally, he was too stubborn to tell anyone else. Very much like you Estel. You should be sleeping as well! That head wound looks pretty nasty," Elladan said trying to get a better look at it.
"Nay Elladan, someone needs to stay awake and keep watch over you as well as the camp," Estel said.
"I'm fine Estel," Elladan said.
Estel looked at him in disbelief. "Elladan, have you even looked at your leg? It does not even resemble a leg currently!"
Elladan rolled his eyes heavenward. Valar help him deal with very stubborn little brothers. "I am fine Estel. It hurts not at all," he lied through his teeth.
"Right, and I'm actually Ada in disguise. Here, drink some of this tea Elrohir made before he fell asleep. It will help with the pain that you claim you are not in," Estel said holding out a cup of hot tea that he had been heating over the fire.
Elladan glared at him. There was no way he was going to take that.
Estel saw the look Elladan was giving him and sighed. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way gwador. Do you really want to make a scene?"
"Nay and you know that very well. Fine, I shall take the tea on one condition," Elladan said.
Estel smiled smugly. "Name it."
"You wake one of the others so that you can get some rest yourself," Elladan said.
"Fine. Now drink," Estel urged.
Elladan scowled but grabbed the cup and swallowed the contents in one gulp. "Ugghhh, it tastes worse that Ada's tea usually does."
Estel smiled in sympathy. Far to many times had he been on the receiving end of their Adar's tea. He watched Elladan though and was pleased to see that his brother's eyes were starting to glaze over.
"What?" Elladan murmured when he saw Estel staring at him. Then it hit him how tired he was feeling, more than he should. "Estel! I'm going to kill you for this. Don't think that I won't forget this!"
"Of course not, now sleep," Estel said soothingly.
"Your dead little brother," Elladan murmured before falling into a deep sleep.
"If you say so Elladan," Estel said softly while cradling Elladan's head in his lap. The sleeping herbs had worked just like he had hoped. Elladan would forgive him, eventually, he hoped.
Satisfied that the herbs were doing their job, Estel eyed the forest and took up the watch, not bothering to wake any of the others as he had promised Elladan. He would live to regret that decision come the morning he knew but it was well worth it. Looking at his now peaceful brother, it was certainly worth it.
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When the dawn broke the next morning, Legolas rose with it. He knew that his father wanted to get an early start that morning. They were all anxious to get back to Mirkwood and the sooner they left, the better.
Stretching, he turned to wake Estel only to find Estel staring at him tiredly but with amusement.
"Good morning mellon nin. I trust that you slept well?" Estel said grinning. Legolas's reaction was going to be priceless!
"Morning Estel," Legolas said, his mind not having fully realized what he was saying and seeing for that matter.
It only took Legolas a moment though to realize what he had just said and what he had seen. For a few seconds he gaped at Estel with his jaw somewhere around the ground. Estel was up and from the looks of it, he had been the whole night! Oh, that human was dead, dead! Once he was better that was.
Recovering from his momentary shock, he sat down next to Estel and gazed at him for a few moments.
"Warg caught your tongue mellon nin?" Estel asked cheerfully, far too cheerfully. He knew that look in Legolas's eyes and knew that he was dead man.
"Estel, were you up all night with Elladan?" Legolas asked in a deceivingly clam tone of voice.
Estel knew better than to believe that calm tone though. After all, he had known Legolas almost as long as he could remember. Legolas only used that voice when someone was in deep trouble, namely him.
"Yes, I was. Someone had to say up and watch over the camp and Elladan!" he defended himself.
Somehow, he didn't think that would help matters. He was right.
"ESTEL ELRONDION! WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE VALAR WHERE YOU THINKING!" Legolas shouted.
Estel winced at the volume that Legolas has used. Not only was it succeeding in making his head ache worse than it was before, but also in waking everyone up, including Elladan.
"Legolas? What's all the shouting?" a half awake Elrohir asked.
Legolas fumed silently and glared daggers at Estel before turning to the younger twin. "It would seem that your dear little brother is more of an idiot than even I thought! he stayed up with Elladan all night, despite his injury and illness!"
Estel winced at the anger at Legolas's voice. Legolas was not an elf who was prone to getting upset very easily. For him to be this mad.... It was not going to be a good day, he could see that already.
"He what!" Delelen yelped, staring incredulously at the young man in front of him.
"Mellon nin, do you have a death wish that I am not aware of?" Thilloth asked half-seriously. If looks could kill, then the twins and Legolas would have killed Estel many minutes ago.
"Aragorn son of Arathorn! I can not believe that you did that! Are you purposefully trying to make yourself worse?!" Elrohir exclaimed.
Estel winced again. Normally it was Elladan who lost his temper, not Elrohir. Also, for Elrohir to call him by his birth name truly did not bode well for him.
"Serves you right Estel," Elladan said smugly, while completely ignoring the fact that his head was still being cradled in his youngest sibling's lap.
For a moment, Elrohir sputtered at the sight of his, quite obviously, wide awake twin before rounding on him. "YOU! Do not think you will get away without a lecture Elladan Elrondion!"
As one, both Estel and Elladan winced. Elrohir was obviously enraged. Although Elrohir was not usually quick to anger, one learned quite quickly to stay far far away from Elrohir when mad, particularly if they valued their lives and limbs.
"You should have woken me the minute you regained consciousness. Ada will not be pleased with either of you when he find out what happened," Elrohir said fiercely.
Thranduil decided to take pity on the two brothers who were still being yelled at by Elrohir. The lecture he was still giving them was more than sufficient. He certainly could not have beat it. "Enough, all of you. Elrohir is right though. What the three of you did was very foolish, although I must admit that I am not surprised."
For a second, the three brothers blinked in confusion and looked up at the Mirkwood King.
"Three?" Elrohir questioned with more than a little confusion. He had not done anything!
"Yes Elrohir, the three of you. I told you to wake someone when you began to feel tired. Instead, you proved to be just as stubborn as your brothers and fell asleep instead!" Thranduil exclaimed.
Elrohir was about to try to protest but one look at his brothers convinced him not too. Clearly they wouldn't defend him. If they were going down, they were taking him with them.
"A wise decision mellon nin," Legolas muttered too softly for anyone but Elrohir to hear. "If you had tried to protest, you would have lost in a most undignified manner."
Elrohir glared at Legolas before turning back to the King.
"All right everyone, I really would like to make it to Mirkwood today. The sooner we reach the palace, the better it is for all of us. Estel, Elladan, sit down and stay down. We shall take care of everything. Neither of you are in any kind of condition to help," Thranduil said sternly.
Estel and Elladan scowled at the King but relented under his glare. They had both learned long ago not to disobey Thranduil when he used that tone of voice.
"While we're on the subject, don't even think that you'll be riding alone either. That goes for both of you! Estel, you shall continue to ride with Thranduil, and you shall ride with me Elladan," Elrohir said when he saw his brothers were about to protest.
"I am perfectly capable of riding on my own! It is Elladan who needs to ride with someone, not I!" Estel protested, despite his brother's vehement disagreement on the matter. He had not realized that it had been Thranduil who had ridden with him when he was unconscious.
Elrohir rolled his eyes. Estel was far to stubborn for his own good. Before he could shake some sense into him however, Legolas beat him to it.
"Estel Elrondion! In case it has somehow escaped your notice, you are not well! You have a nasty head wound, you're still slightly feverish, you're exhausted, and you only got at most two hours of sleep last night. There is no way you are riding by yourself," Legolas said firmly.
"Feverish?! You did not tell me that you ere ill as well as injured!" Elladan yelped in surprise.
"I'm fine Dan. More than likely I just over exerted myself," Estel said with a look of distaste on his face. He had not wanted to say that but he saw no other way of reassuring Elladan that he was truly fine.
"Humph, why does that not surprise me?" Elladan stated more than asked.
"Perhaps because Estel had to have learned that kind of behavior from someone, namely, his two older brothers," Thranduil said dryly.
Legolas, Delelen, and Thilloth nearly choked on their laughter at the looks the three brothers were giving their father.
Thranduil noticed the glares and only smiled at them. "Tis the truth young ones, nothing more. Come, it is time to leave."
Sighing, Elladan reluctantly admitted defeat. He allowed his twin to carry him over to one of the horses all the while muttering about younger siblings and the wringing of necks in the not so distant future.
Seeing that Elladan was in safe hands, and that his sons were slowly but surely packing up the camp, Thranduil turned his attention to the young human in front of him who was very slowly trying to stand up.
Thranduil muttered a curse as Estel swayed and nearly fell over, and in fact would have had not Thranduil grabbed him and steadied him. "Easy there Estel. You are not as well as you would have us believe."
Estel grunted but, for once, did not disagree. To be perfectly honest, he did not feel all that well. His head felt as though there was an encampment of orcs within it, and he was so exhausted. Without meaning to, he leaned on Thranduil more heavily.
Thranduil felt Estel lean on him more which only served to increase his anxiety. Carefully, he wrapped one arm around Estel's waist, the other around his legs and unceremoniously, picked him up and carried him over to the horse.
"I can walk! You don't have to carry me," Estel protested weakly.
"You must think me blind Estel. You are not well, that is obvious to even the most unobservant person," Thranduil said while placing him on the horse.
Estel snorted and was going to respond but suddenly the world seemed to tilt and whirl around him. Groaning, he hugged the horses neck while trying to get the world back into focus.
Thranduil saw Estel's unsteadiness and quickly mounted behind the young man, wrapping his arms around him in order to support him.
Feeling Thranduil's arms encircle him, Estel allowed himself to relax as his eyes drifted shut. He knew the King would never allow him to fall.
"Estel!" everyone shouted at the same time as they saw Estel fall limp in Thranduil's arms.
"Estel, are you still with us gwador?" Elrohir asked seeing that his brother's eyes were still slightly open.
"Hmm," Estel mumbled as a response.
Legolas shared a despairing look with his father, brothers, and the twins. Estel was getting worse, not better.
Thranduil quickly weighed his options and decided that he would have to take a chance. The healers at the palace had to be prepared. "Delelen, Thilloth, I would that you ride ahead and warn Himband that we have injured. I believe that we are going to need him prepared."
Thilloth and Delelen nodded seriously. "Of course Ada," Delelen said.
"We shall see you shortly Ada. That is, if Himband doesn't kill us first," Thilloth said wryly.
"Indeed," Thranduil said dryly. Estel had a certain gift for making his head healer go out of his mind with worry and exasperation and the twins and Legolas were not much better. "Be of with you then. And my sons, please, be very careful."
They nodded once more before they urged their horses into a fast gallop. they would reach the palace long before the others would.
"Elrohir, how is Elladan?" Thranduil asked once his two middle sons had ridden out of sight.
"I am just fine thank you. It is Estel we should worried about," Elladan answered for Elrohir.
"Elladan! That leg wound is no minor scratch! You can not even put weight on it!" Legolas exclaimed.
"It is not that bad," Elladan insisted.
"You should listen to Legolas gwador nin. We need to get the both of you back to Mirkwood," Elrohir said.
"Yes, and we shall. Did you hear that Estel? We're going to reach the palace today. Won't Himband be ecstatic to see you!" Legolas jested lightly, hoping to provoke some response out of Estel.
His hopes were in vain though. Estel seemed to beyond responding. He was sitting limply in front of Thranduil, his head down, and his eyes half closed and glazed. Legolas was willing to bet that the man was barely aware of what was happening around him.
"We should hurry, I don't like this. I don't like this at all," Elrohir said. "Aye, let us leave now," Thranduil said.
Without another moment's hesitation, they urged their horses onward to Mirkwood.
Little did they know that they would find more danger within Mirkwood than they would out in the wilds. They were being stalked, they just did not know it, yet.
Translations:
Adar: Dad
Ada: Dad/Daddy
Ion nin: My son
Mellon nin: My friend
Gwador nin: My brother
Tithen gwador: Little brother
Tithen pen: Little one