A/N: Thanks so much to all of you who reviewed :-D I guess I have nothing more interesting to say...sad, I know...
See chapter one for disclaimer.
Chapter 3: Elusive Instinct
Aragorn and Legolas talked quietly about the trip ahead as they began to ready their horses.
"Mellon-nín…"Aragorn paused suddenly in his brushing to look over his horse's back at Legolas. "Who, exactly, is Dinerion? I don't remember ever meeting him."
"That's because you haven't." Legolas answered, slinging his satchel over the back of his horse. A smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. "But didn't I tell you about him?"
"You're avoiding my question," Aragorn said suspiciously.
"If you really want to know…He's Dolenil's brother."
Aragorn just about choked. "His brother?"
"Yes, mellon-nín, his brother." Legolas repeated patiently.
"You didn't tell me he had a brother!" The ranger groaned. "Great. There's two of them. And you just volunteered me to travel with them."
"Now Strider, don't judge Dinerion before you've even met him. Give the poor elf a chance."
"Are you suggesting that he's an improvementover his brother?" Aragorn asked with tentative hope.
"Well, I wouldn't say he was an improvement—exactly."
"What do you mean 'not exactly'!"
Legolas shook his head. "Dinerion's too hard to explain, and I'm not about to try."
Before Aragorn could continue to lament his fate, noises started to reach them from the courtyard. There was a thud, like a heavy object hitting the ground, then scrambling noises. Another thump soon followed, sounding suspiciously like a falling person. It was not a normal sound to break the peaceful ambience of an elven palace. But there it was.
"I believe Dinerion has arrived..." Legolas said, a forced expression of neutrality on his face.
Aragorn looked guardedly at the door, waiting for the appearance of Dolenil's brother. The door swung open to reveal…Someone who didn't resemble Dolenil at all.
The elf was at least several inches taller than his older brother, and had a bow and two daggers, very similar to Legolas', strapped to his back. He stood imposingly in the doorway, looking like a very impressive representation of an elven warrior.
Aragorn watched him with some apprehension. The fact that he may not outwardly resemble his brother did not mean that he wasn't going to act like him. To his surprise, Dinerion didn't seem to notice. In a friendly forward gesture, he stepped into the room. His arms swung in a carefree manner, and his warm, brown eyes shone with an openness that Aragorn had not expected.
Unfortunately, one of his "carefree" arms swung directly in a large jar of leather-oil that was sitting on the a table next to the door. With lightening-quick recovery, he dove forward and caught it, casually replacing it on the table. As he advanced towards them, he tripped on a rock and was only just saved by grabbing onto one of the posts supporting the roof. Apparently unfazed, he greeted Aragorn cheerfully.
"Suliad! I'm Dinerion. You must be Strider." His untroubled face paused thoughtfully. "Although, Dolenil insists that I should call you 'Lord Estel'…" his face brightened, "But I was hoping you wouldn't mind if I called you Strider. 'Lord' sounds so formal, you know…"
"Ah…yes…of course…" Aragorn was fighting not to laugh. "I don't mind at all if you call me Strider…"
"It's such an unusual name—but I like it." The elf smiled, acting so casual and friendly, Aragorn felt like he must have met the elf at least once before. "Legolas has told me so much about you, and I was just dying to meet you! Then when I heard that you were coming with Legolas, I could hardly wait! I was thinking that maybe—"
"Dinerion." Legolas interrupted with a smile, "Perhaps you should start getting your own horse ready? We do need to leave soon."
"Oh, sorry…I won't take long." He walked over to his own horse.
Dolenil entered a moment later, apologized for being late, and also began to hastily prepare his horse for the journey.
-o0o-
They started out, Aragorn riding in front with Legolas, and Dolenil and Dinerion a few paces behind them.
Dinerion, wearing his usual carefree smile, was trying to engage his stoic brother in conversation. "I'm so glad that Strider came with Legolas, aren't you?" he said, watching Legolas and Aragorn laughing and talking in front of them. "Legolas seems so much more..." he paused, searching for the right word to describe this seemingly new side of the prince. "Well, he just seems a lot happier with him here."
Dolenil didn't say anything, but his eyes did rove curiously between Aragorn and Legolas. His eyes rested on Legolas, who was at that moment playfully swatting at his friend. If Dinerion had looked closely, he would have seen his brothers mouth twitch slightly. But before that slight twitching could turn into anything more noticeable, Dolenil turned to look appraisingly at the human, and his eyes turned dark and cautious once more.
Either Dinerion didn't notice the change in his brother, or he chose to ignore it. But his eyes did follow Dolenil's gaze to the two friends riding before them. "They must be very good friends." His broad smile became more sober and thoughtful. "I've never seen Legolas so laid-back around anyone before, and although I've only just met him, I already have a feeling I'm going to like Strider very much."
At this, Dolenil allowed the harsh restraint that he usually kept on his emotions to slip. Somehow, he could never remain cold and distant around his little brother no matter how hard he tried to keep proper control over his feelings; and he'd given up trying to do so long ago.
Under his breath he muttered teasingly, "You like everyone, muindor."
"And just what is the matter with liking everyone?" Dinerion demanded, trying his best to look indignant and failing miserably.
"Did I say there was anything wrong with it?" Dolenil answered with a question of his own.
Even as he spoke light-heartedly with his brother, Dinerion's mind swerved back to his usual, serious thoughts, and as his thoughts changed, so did his expression. Dinerion continued to chatter, but Dolenil's eyes, albeit unintentionally, refocused guardedly on Aragorn. They held a suspicious and decidedly unfriendly glint, and this time Dinerion noticed.
A frown marred the younger elf's face, looking even more serious in comparison to his nearly habitual smile.
"Dolenil," he said quietly, his words laced with reproach. "why don't you like Strider?"
Dolenil sighed, but his look softened once more. His younger brother knew him all too well. It was reassuring to have someone who could nearly read his mind, but at times it was also rather disconcerting. As much he loved his brother, at the moment he didn't feel like trying to explain his feelings to him. He rarely felt like displaying his emotions, and detested trying to explain them. Besides, right now he really had a hard time explaining his dislike of the ranger to himself. Still… Dinerion had a way, when he chose, of wheedling nearly anything he wanted out of his older brother.
"I do not trust him," he said under his breath. "and I do not understand the Prince's unquestioning loyalty."
"But, muindor, what's the harm of them being friends? Legolas can pick his own friends, and I don't think that Strider is a bad choice anyways. He's―"
"He's far more than just a good friend." Dolenil interrupted sternly. In his fierce desire to explain, he didn't notice the slightly hurt look that crossed his brother's face at the hardness in his voice. "You were not there, Dinerion, you did not see how deep their friendship is. They are like brothers. Legolas was ready to die for that Adan."
"So that's it," Dolenil said softly, his face growing even more uncharacteristically serious. "You don't like Strider because he's human."
Dolenil sighed again. He should have known better than to try and hide it. He'd tried to get away with only telling half of the tale, but he should have known Dinerion would see he was hiding something. True, he was annoyed, and yet, inwardly, he smiled slightly. Dinerion was always so underestimated… Because he was so clumsy, good humored, and friendly towards anyone he happened to meet, most tended to automatically discount him in matters of any importance. It was really unfair; Dinerion was more perceptive than most.
"Oh muindor…" he said, endowing his words with such tenderness, that it erased the lingering hurt from his younger brother's concerned brown eyes. "You and I have always been so different. You know me unlike any other. You know that I cannot trust as easily as you. But you…" his voice trailed off and a small, curious smile flitted across his face before he fell silent.
"Yes? You were saying…brother? What about me?" Dinerion demanded, his voice rising in good-natured indignation.
By now the animated conversation had caught Aragorn and Legolas' attention. Aragorn turned in his saddle to watch in confusion as Dolenil conversed with Dinerion. Was it just his imagination, or was he actually joking with his brother? He looked closer. Yes, there most definitely was a semblance of a smile…
"But they were very nice crickets!" Dinerion was saying in response to whatever Dolenil had just said.
Legolas laughed loudly, and the two brothers looked up quickly, not having realized that they'd gained an audience.
"Nice crickets?" Legolas raised his eyebrows incredulously.
Dolenil, upon realizing that his unleashed emotions were being observed, immediately became quiet and controlled. The change was so sudden, that Aragorn did a double take. With the stoic mask firmly back in place, the smiling, laughing elf he'd seen just a second ago, seemed to have vanished.
Dinerion, contrasting with his brother as sharply as ever, took it all in stride, not even pausing in surprise before continuing talking. He seemed completely at ease incorporating anyone into his conversation, even the prince his brother held in such careful respect.
"Yes, they were very nice." Dinerion continued in the defense of his beloved pets. "They would sing every night for me."
"You, and half the palace…" Legolas added wryly, winking at Aragorn.
"Well, they weren't around to torture you for very long," Dinerion said darkly.
Aragorn was confused. Obviously this was an old argument, but really…Crickets?
"Why? What happened to them?" he asked.
Legolas scowled at his friend and muttered, "That was the wrong question, mellon-nín."
"Legolas murdered them, that's what." Dinerion said vehemently.
"Murdered!" Legolas exclaimed.
"Don't act so innocent, Legolas, just admit that it was you who dumped the cage."
"Elbereth Gilthoniel!" Legolas ducked slightly to avoid a low-hanging branch. "Why would I want to tip over their cage? The only thing worse than a cage full of a couple dozen chirping crickets, is a couple dozen chirping crickets out of their cage―in the Palace! Do you think I actually like having my father in that foul a mood?"
But Dinerion stubbornly refused to be convinced of the princes' innocence. "And everybody was stepping on them, and 'accidentally' setting books on them…" he grumbled under his breath.
Legolas rolled his eyes, turning slightly in his saddle as he felt a pair of brown eyes boring accusingly into his back. "I'd just come back from a tiring year-long scouting trip along the borders. I was exhausted and ready for a little peace and quiet. I had no idea that the room directly underneath mine would be hosting a horde of crickets!"
"You could hardly call it a horde, Legolas." Dinerion interjected.
Legolas sighed in exasperation. "That's beside the point!"
"And here I thought elves loved all good creatures regardless…" Aragorn smirked.
Legolas' glare was withering. "Please, mellon-nín, you're really not helping things," he said between clenched teeth.
"That's right, why don't you listen to Strider?" Dinerion smiled at Aragorn. "Come on, Legolas, just admit that you murdered my crickets."
Legolas groaned. "You can't murder an insect!" Suddenly his mood seemed to change. He looked slyly behind him at Dinerion. "Why don't we talk about the time you adopted those rabbits? You know, when you kept them in your closet―back when you didn't realize the significance of why you keep the male and the female separated…"
Dinerion choked and looked like he was about to explode, but before he could get another word out, Dolenil reached over and tapped him on the shoulder. "I think you are a bit upset, muindor. Calm down."
"I am not upset!" Dinerion said heatedly, a strand of hair his brown hair falling into his eyes.
But Dolenil was adamant. "Come, Dinerion, I think it is time we scouted ahead a ways…" He all but led his brother's horse away, leaving Aragorn and Legolas to smile in amusement.
-o0o-
Aragorn sighed in contentment as he surveyed the quiet forest. After the last couple of months… He shuddered. Suffice it to say, it was wonderful to be traveling among friends. And what friends they were.
Dinerion approached the fire holding a piece of firewood. He was reaching forward to put it on the flames, when Dolenil hastily intercepted it.
"Dinerion," Dolenil came the closest Aragorn had ever heard to whining. "How many times have Naneth and I told you not to get close to the fire?"
Dinerion crossed his arms defiantly. "You sound like you're talking to a hundred-year-old, Dolenil!"
The conversation, intense as it was, was suddenly interrupted by something more intense―namely the fire creeping up the side of Dinerion's green jerkin. The younger elf's eyes went wide, and then Dolenil was pushing him to the ground, half falling on top of him as he rolled his brother into the snow. Once the flames were smothered, the two of them sat up.
"Are you burned?" Dolenil studied his singed brother.
Dinerion looked dolefully at the charred hole in his clothes. "I'm alright, but I'm afraid I've managed to ruin yet another outfit."
Aragorn noted with some surprise of his own, the lack of any real surprise on any of his friends' faces. Well, in his experience companions lighting themselves on fire hadn't been something that most people took in stride. Elladan and Elrohir were the only other beings he'd ever seen go through something so undignified, and come out of it so unfazed. Even the twins, though, wouldn't have taken a sudden conflagration of their clothing so calmly.
The "excitement" in the camp, following Dinerion's run-in with fire, soon died down. Several times in the last half-hour, Aragorn had tried to get a word in with Legolas. Something sinister was growing on his mind, and a good talk with Legolas always helped clear his thoughts; but each time he turned to his friend, he could feel a pair of eyes burn into him coldly. The uncomfortable surveillance Dolenil kept on him was beginning to seriously grate on his nerves.
Eru…why does that elf have the ability to make me feel so uncomfortable?
Dinerion solved his problem for him, albeit unknowingly.
"Well, it looks like we're running out of firewood," he said, rising. "I'll go find some more."
"Not by yourself, you won't." Dolenil rose as well, obviously not recovered enough from his brother's latest near-catastrophe to allow him to wander the darkening woods alone.
As they disappeared into the trees, Aragorn permitted himself the unashamed pleasure of sighing in relief.
"Not too sad to be rid of them, I see." Legolas' blue eyes sparkled with more than the fire-light.
"Positively heart-broken," Aragorn replied sarcastically. "Honestly, mellon-nín, I don't know if I can stand much more of Dolenil's 'observation'. Though, as far as Dinerion…I have to admit, he is growing on me."
"Yes," Legolas nodded. "I think his ability to 'grow' on people has saved him from the threat of banishment more then once. That, and the fact that Dolenil would kill the first person to suggest such a decree."
Aragorn chuckled. "You mean an elf could be banished for being clumsy?"
"It's rather hard to say," Legolas laughed at the irony. "Elves don't often stop to consider things like clumsiness. In all of our long history, I don't believe we've ever had to seriously make a decision of that kind."
"No, I suppose not." He shot his friend an amused glance. "The damage must be extensive, though."
"Not nearly as bad as you might imagine. Oh, Dinerion may be clumsy, but he certainly has quick reflexes. Between him and Dolenil, he usually manages to avoid disaster."
Aragorn smiled, turning towards the woods as his face began to sting from the constant heat of the fire. Facing the coolness of the night, he let the warmth play across his back. An easy silence lapsed for a few moments, before he said quietly, "Before they return, there is something I must talk to you about."
Legolas also turned to face the woods. He nodded, encouraging him to continue. Somehow he'd already known there was something on his friend's mind. Of course, it didn't take telepathy to see that. Aragorn had been fidgeting all day.
"Legolas, someone's out there." He nodded towards the quiet forest. "I can't explain it, but I feel…watched."
-o0o-
Kadrin balanced carefully on the limb. The bare branches of the wind-swept tree he was sitting in would have provided scarce cover for his purposes, but luckily the evergreens were plenteous in the area. Through the bushy snow-laden bows of the two pine-trees in front of his hiding place, he watched the figures gathered around the campfire.
He could see the dark silhouette of the two companions. His cold eyes followed the form of the elf. The Prince of Mirkwood. The other, the human, he had little interest in. But the elves he studied carefully. It had taken a while—a disgraceful amount of time in his opinions—before he could tell the two blond elves apart.
From the distance he was forced to watch them at, they were easy to mistake for one another. Now he could tell them apart at a glance. Their mannerisms, gestures, and even the way they walked, all betrayed their identities to his trained eye. The two "superfluous" elves had left a few minutes ago. He could tell them all apart anywhere, even when all he had to go by was their silhouette.
There could be no embarrassing mistakes, no second chances.
TBC...
Ok...I should have reviewer responses sent out later today (although it might be quite late...I'll see when I get a chance). Next chapter should be up Sat., if all goes as planned ;-)