Chapter 12 reviews:

KawaiiWhiteWolf: thanks, and here is the next update.

AgnesSophia: well, here you go! Glad you like my story.

Elf of life: oh, why thank you! D Good to hear that.

Kel: yes, the moment you have been waiting for is about to begin! Well, not quite...

TheAmazingTecnocolorRingWraith: insane reviewers are cool. Think you know, do you? Hehehehe, well just see about that!

A. NuEvil: you know, I really don't know if he is feeling paranoid. Sad, huh? Erestor is just looking out for the well-being of others, as you will see (or read) in this chapter.

Mearas: I had to update it fast, the idea wouldn't leave me alone! And now this new chapter won't leave my head!

Elf of life: did you write me two reviews? Oh and don't worry about rushing me, I like it when people tell me to hurry up with the next update. It makes me work faster than I usually do.

SalanTrong: yes, I know that the chapter was short, but I had to go somewhere, so I kinda rushed things, if you can tell. Are you sure about Erestor?

IwishChan: Nope, it won't really ruin anything. I wasn't planning on sending Elrond to Mirkwood by the way, it just sort of made its way into the story while I was writing this. Hehehe...

Chapter 13

Darkness had descended and the only noise to be heard were those of the night creatures. Most of them were insects and a couple of birds, such as owls. It was late, and if they had clocks back then, it would have been about one thirty in the morning. But alas, they didn't have clocks, so they didn't know that. All they knew was that it was late.

The only ones up at this ungodly hour were the guards that took watch at the gate and the others that were on the lookout around the Homely Home.

Out in the woods, another elf was wake as well.

Legolas had put on the cloak, which was a green-gray color. At the moment he was walking around the wall that surrounded the Homely Home. He stayed in the wooden areas, of course. It wouldn't do to get caught walking around the wall. It would look suspicious.

Legolas looked around at the trees and ground. "Where did he say it was?" Legolas gave a sigh of frustration. He was looking for a particular rock, which was not that easy, seeing as the more he walked, the more rocks he saw.

He remembered what Elladan told him, though.

Flashback

Elladan was explaining to Legolas a path that he and his brothers usually took to get out of the palace and go walk around the woods without anyone finding out.

"When you get to where you see the gate that leads to our home, go West. After that, follow the wall until you get to a rock that reaches the height of your knee. It's gray with a blue tip."

Legolas raised his brows. "A blue tip?"

Elladan shrugged. "Elrohir painted the tip blue." Legolas nodded his head. "Anyways, after you get to the rock, look around until you spy a tree that has no leaves. It's dead in case your wondering. Head in that direction. Once you reach the tree, you should see a path of half buried stones that will bring pretty close to the edge of the woods, so your going to have to be careful or else a guard will see you." Here, Elladan handed Legolas the cloak.

"What's this for?" Legolas asked as he held the cloak in front of him to take a better look at it. It was made of fine material, something that resembles silk, in a way. In other words, it was an expensive thing.

"This will help you blend in better." Elladan said. "After you find the path, it will take you to the opposite side of the wall, across from the gate. There is a crack in the wall somewhere around there. That is where you can get in, understand?"

Legolas recited the directions to Elladan, who nodded. "Then I think I got it." Legolas said with a smile.

Elladan headed back home, but after a few steps, turned around and called out to Legolas. "Good luck!"

Legolas waved back, then left in the opposite direction.

End of Flashback

"Where is that stupid stone!" Legolas was not in a good mood at the moment. He didn't know how long he had been walking, but if he had to make a guess, he would say that he had been walking for about half an hour. "How hard is it to find a tall, blue tipped rick?"

The only thing that was worrying him was the fact that he could of missed it. Legolas growled and kick the closes thing, a small rock about the size of his palm. He watched as it flew above the ground and smacked into a rock that was way taller than it was.

Legolas quickly walked closer to the stone, and he noticed as he got closer that the rock was about the height of his knee. Quickening his pace, Legolas reached the rock and began to search for a blue tip.

He spent about two minutes looking for anything blue, but didn't find it. Letting out a tired sigh, legolas used the stone as a chair, an uncomfortable chair, but a chair non the less.

"I was pretty sure this was the rock." Legolas rubbed his eyes with his hands. "What if I passed the blasted rock without noticing?" He quickly shook that thought out of his head. It didn't do to think negative.

Looking at the ground, Legolas kicked another rock and watched it as it rolled on the ground and came to a stop at the base of a larger rock. Letting his eyes roam the rock, Legolas noticed that it was about the same height as the rock that he was sitting on. Before he got his hopes up, Legolas looked behind the rock to notice that there were about half a dozen rocks about the same height.

"Well, I guess one of these rocks has to be the right one." With that thought, Legolas got up from the rock he was sitting on and made his way over to the next one. "Better get started."

About fifteen minutes later, Legolas found the right rock and was at the moment looking around for a dead tree. The fact that it was night and quite dark didn't help, seeing as it made all the tree sort of look the same.

"This just isn't my day...or night...whichever." Legolas mumbled as he looked around. Maybe I should look at the branches instead of the trunk. Nodding to himself, Legolas began looking for a tree without leaves, which he found a short while later. He began to head in that direction.

Once he reached the tree he moved his gaze to the ground and began to look for half buried stones.

"Lets see here. The path is suppose to take me close to the wall, so I should look somewhere close to the edge of the woods." And that's what he did. Keeping on hand on the tree, Legolas began to walk a bit closer to the edge in hopes of finding the path.

In a short while, he found a path of stones that looked half buried and began to head in that direction when a sudden thought hit him. What do the stones look like? Legolas groaned. "Elladan didn't tell me that."

Again Legolas began to search the ground, but this time he looked everywhere. Much to Legolas's relief, the stones he was headed towards were not only the only half buried stones, they were also the only stones around. Quickly, yet quietly, he began to follow the path of stones.

Just as Elladan said, the path took Legolas very close to the edge of the woods and he had to constantly pause when he noticed that a guard on the wall looked his way. "Thank the Valar Elladan gave me the cloak." He mumbled this just about every time a guards eyes swept past him.

Usually he leaned up against a tree to avoid being seen, but a few times he had to fall to the ground to avoid being spotted. Thanks to the color of the cloak, it blended well into the ground and the trunks of trees.

Legolas continued to follow the path and couldn't help but wonder two things (1 who put the path down in the first place and (2 how come none of the guards know it was there?

Legolas shook his head. "Oh well, can't think about that right now." He followed the path, one eye on the wall, the other on the ground. Soon he found the crack that Elladan spoke of. He also noticed that there were no guards anywhere nearby. "That's weird."

When he reached the crack, Legolas noticed that it was more of a hole than a crack. I bet a horse could fit through this gap! With a shrug, Legolas stepped through.

The plan was actually very simple. All Legolas had to do was alert the guards, lead them on a chase (without getting caught) and make it look as if he ran out of Rivendell. Legolas didn't really think it was a plan, more of an idea that just happen to pop into Elrohir's head at the time.

Legolas looked around. It looked like he came out somewhere behind the stable, judging by the smell of horse that reached his nose. To his left he saw a large building. "That must be where Elladan as his family lives."

Legolas suddenly became aware of two emotions that were making there way in him. Jealousness and loneliness. Elladan had a family, something Legolas doesn't remember ever having. Sure, he traveled around with others and spent time with their families, but he never really thought about it back then. But here, where he was alone outside the house of a friend, Legolas couldn't help but feel that way. Quickly, he crushed those thoughts. Now was not the time to lose concentration. A guard could pop out at any minute.

"All I have to do is get the guards attention." Quietly, he moved beside the stable and kept to the shadows. Just as he was about to come out of hiding, a sudden idea made its way into his head. He couldn't help the grin that made its way onto his face. Instead of walking out to let the guards see him, he made his way to the stable doors, open the doors quietly so they wouldn't squeak, and slipped inside.

The inside of the stable was darker than it was outside. It took a few moments until Legolas's eyes adjusted to the darkness. Once they did adjust, he looked at the different pens. Each pen had a horse in it, and every pen was full. And all the horses seemed to be sleeping. That didn't surprise Legolas. He was just hopping that one of the horses was awake. He walked to the other end of the stable, looking at all the horses, before heading back to the stable doors. He was about to open the doors when a snort on his right made him jump.

Looking to his right, Legolas saw a black stallion looking at him almost curiously. Cautiously, incase he frightened it, Legolas made his way towards the animal. The stallion just flicked one of its ears and continued to watch him.

Reaching beside the doors, Legolas found a lamp and, luckily, something to light it with. After lighting the lamp, he brought it up so that he could get a better look at the stallion. It was lean, but had large muscles, probable for endurance, Legolas figured. The horse was also completely black and, from what Legolas could tell, young. Bringing the lamp to the pen door, Legolas found a plate with the name of the horse on it.

"Shadow." Looking up at the horse, Legolas noticed that Shadow had moved his head until it was only a few inches from his own face.

Shadow just stared at Legolas, then nudged his snout to Legolas's cheek. Legolas chuckled softly and patted the side of Shadow's neck. Shadow neighed and snorted, which woke his neighbor.

Legolas smiled and scratched between Shadow's ears. "Hey Shadow, what do you say to a late night ride?" He didn't expect Shadow to answer, but to his amazement, Shadow stomped one of his front legs and bobbed his head up and down, as if nodding. That caught Legolas completely off guard. Wow. Either this horse is really smart or it understands me. Legolas didn't give to much thought. Now he had a horse to ride, all he needed now was to get its gear and get out.

Lifting the lamp higher, Legolas looked around the stable and located a few saddles and bridles. He made his way towards them and picked out a medium sized saddle and made his way over to Shadow's pen. When he got to the door of the pen, Shadow snorted and shook his head from side to side. Legolas raised a brow. "What, you don't want to wear a saddle?" Shadow surprised him again by nodding and nudging his cheek. "Well," Legolas began, "what about a bridle?" Again Shadow shook his head.

That is one really smart horse. Legolas put the saddle back and walked back to the pen. "You want to be bareback?" Shadow nodded and began to pace in place. Legolas grabbed the lamp and blew out the light. Then he carefully made his way back to Shadow's pen and opened it. He had half expected the stallion to bolt out, but Shadow didn't move. Legolas easily got on and using Shadow's mane, steered the horse to the doors. Once at the doors, Legolas pulled the cloak tighter around himself and quickly pushed the doors open. He then nudged Shadow to a quick gallop and made his way behind the stable, back to the hole he came through.

Behind him, he could hear the shouts of guards, but he didn't turn around to look. He urged Shadow to move faster and headed back the way he came. First through the path of hidden stones, then to the dead tree, followed by the knee high rock with the blue tip. Behind him he heard the sound of hoofs, meaning that the guards were chasing him. "That was fast!"

Suddenly something whizzed by his head and struck a tree in front. An arrow. "Ah damn! They're shooting at me!" Several more arrows whizzed by, one grazing his cheek. Legolas made Shadow take a sharp turn and then urged the horse faster. Shadow, sensing his riders urgency, quickly sped up.

They continues to weave between the trees, making their pursuers confused at points. The guards didn't give up though, and broke into two groups. One group continued to follow Legolas and Shadow, while the other group ran ahead to cut off the escape.

Legolas continued to steer Shadow in between trees and anything else that he could find. He looked down at Shadow to realize that the horse didn't seem tired. I bet this horse is probable having the time of his life! He was snapped out of his thoughts when an arrow whizzed by. Now is not the time to be wondering in my thoughts.

Legolas took a look around and realized that they were near the area where he hid his belongings. Can't leave that stuff behind! Quickly, he steered Shadow towards his stuff. Lowering himself as low as he could against Shadow, Legolas carefully removed his hands from Shadows mane and moved his hand to the horses shoulders. They were quickly reaching the area were his stuff was. Carefully, he began to lean more to his left until he was almost riding sideways. His hands were becoming clammy, but if he let go, he would either fall off or fall and get trampled by Shadow's hooves.

Slowly he reached out his left hand. He could see one of the straps from his pack that had all his things inside and reached out further so that he would be able to have a better reach. When Shadow ran by, Legolas quickly grabbed the strap and was almost pulled off when his pack was momentarily stuck on a bush. The only reason he was still on was the fact the he had wrapped his legs tightly around the horse.

He quickly got back on and slipped his pack on his back, but not before he pulled out his arrows and bow.

Just ahead, he could see the end of the woods and the beginning of the plains, meaning that he was almost on the border of Rivendell. Just as he was home-free, Legolas noticed that there were about a dozen guards between him and freedom. Come on Legolas, think of something! He was about to slow down, when an arrow whizzing by reminded him that there were still guards behind him.

Hope this works...Instead of slowing down, Legolas sped up and headed straight towards the guards in front, who had bows ready. He watched the guards and their movements, realizing that they were about to fire. He saw them pull their bows back and saw them release. And at the last second, he steered Shadow to the right, barley avoiding the arrows. Behind him, the hear the guards that were chasing his shout out warnings and a few of them curse as the we hit in the arm or leg, seeing as none of the shots were made to harm the horse he took.

He rode around the dozen guards and out into the plains, where he and Shadow blended in with the darkness.

Once they reached a safe distance away, Legolas slowed Shadow down to a trot and looked back. "Note to self: never do that again." Legolas than steered Shadow towards the direction of the nearest village, which was a good three miles away.

Morning came to Rivendell. Today was the day that Raindul, Elladan, Elrohir, Estel, and a handful of Mirkwood elves would travel to Lothlorien while Talan, Elrond, and the rest of the Mirkwood elves traveled back to Mirkwood. Everything was fine, until...

"What do you mean he stole my horse?" Elrohir roared.

Estel couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. "Oh Elrohir, you know how much that horse hated you!" That was all he managed to get out before he burst out laughing again.

"Elrohir," Elladan said in order to calm his brother down. "Don't worry, we'll get Shadow back. But until we do, just ride a different horse." Elrohir stormed off, mumbling unkind words about a certain horse and rider.

"Well, that was...interesting" That was all Elrond could think of saying at the moment. He turned towards Erestor and Glorfindel. "I hope you don't find thing to difficult."

Glorfindel shook his head. "Don't worry Elrond, everything will be find. I am more worried about you." Elrond smiled.

Not long after, both parties of elves left through the gate and went their separate ways. Both Glorfindel and Erestor stood at the front of the gate until Glorfindel decided to break the silence. "Well, what so we do first?"

Erestor looked at Glorfindel from the side of his eye. "Pardon?"

"What do we do know that we 'rule' Rivendell while Elrond is away?" Glorfindel asked.

Erestor just stared at Glorfindel before turning around and heading back to the palace. "Your on your own for that Glorfindel. I never agreed to any of this. I have to much work as it is. I don't have time to rule Rivendell and do my work!"

"But Erestor!" Glorfindel cried, "I don't know much about running a realm!"

"That's your problem." Erestor called from over his shoulder. "Have fun!"

"Erestor! How can you be so cruel to me?" Glorfindel called back before chasing after Erestor, who had disappeared inside the building.

This is the longest chapter I have written. And it took me forever to write! Well, not really. You want to know something, having Elrond go to Mirkwood wasn't in my original plans. That just kinda wrote itself into the story.