Here is yet another chapter for you all.
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Chapter 11- Flying Terrors and Grimy She-Elves
The sun was just starting to shine through the clouds, signaling the start of the day in the Elven Haven of Imladris. A crisp breeze swept through the many halls, making it seem even more natural. The only disturbance that could be heard was the laughter and shouting of the children of Lord Elrond, Master of Rivendell.
"Elladan! Wait up!" Estel chased after his twin foster brothers through the Halls of Fire. The twins laughed.
"You must catch us first!" He told him, not able to control his laughter.
"Right, don't you want to be strong and fend for yourself someday?" The other one, Elrohir, asked him.
"Yes, but I don't see how this helps!" He replied. "And plus, it is way to hot in here!" Elrohir pushed a foot stool in front of Estel's path, but the human kept his feet.
"Do you think so?" Elladan asked.
"It seems quite comfortable to me." Elrohir added.
"Well, of course! You two are elves! You can not feel it anyway!"
'Oh yes, I forgot."
"I know! Lucky us!" They laughed and ran out of the halls and towards the Terrace Path. Not being able to keep up anymore, Estel slowed down and walked the rest of the way.
He found them sitting upon the Stone Seat. Elrohir sat on the back while Elladan sat on the arm rest.
"What took you so long?" Elrohir asked his foster brother. He received a glare in return, but they both grinned anyway. Elladan hopped off his perch and put an arm around Estel's shoulders.
"How would you like to cool off, Estel?" He asked him. Estel gave him a suspicious glare.
"That would be nice." Elrohir then stepped beside him.
"Good!" They both laughed as they pushed him into the River Bruinen that flowed beside the path.
"You imbeciles!" He shouted at the two laughing elves as he was being swiftly carried down the river.
"That is what you get for putting a pillow case full of snakes in my closet!" Elrohir shouted after him. After regaining composure, the twins sped off down the path.
They came to the bridge that led over the river and waited for Estel to flow by. Elladan took from his pack a long, silver rope and dropped it over the side. Estel grabbed a hold of it when he came by and cursed to himself as they pulled him back up onto the bridge. Elrohir wrapped his cloak around him.
"You should really be more careful, Estel." He lectured him.
"Yes, you could have died!" Elladan said, biting his lip to keep from laughing.
"Gwanno ereb nin!" Estel growled. They laughed.
"Come, Arwen will help get you cleaned up." Elrohir told him.
"Yes, you would like that, wouldn't you, Estel?" His eyes lit up and Elrohir patted him on the back.
"I knew you would." The twins led him down many passageways decorated with vies and pictures of old. They came to his room and left him there to get dressed. Arwen came not long after and combed through his hair.
"I am sorry about that, Estel. They are just immature." Arwen said. Estel chuckled.
"It is alright. It was just a bit of fun. The water was quite nice, actually."
"Maybe so, but what if you catch cold? This is not the time of year to be in the freezing waters of the Bruinen!" Estel took her hand.
"Arwen, do not fret. I will be fine." Lord Elrond then burst in through the doors.
"Estel! That blasted bird Espenshade is here!" The human chuckled.
"Alright. I will take care of her." He stood up and thanked Arwen, and then followed his foster father to his chambers.
When he saw the scene before him, he nearly died of laughter. Two elves, a blonde and a brunette, stood in the corner with nets raised, trying to catch a bird high up in the rafters.
"Come on down, sweet birdie!" One tried to bribe it with a piece of rabbit, but it didn't budge. Estel strode up to the two.
"Can't get her down, eh?" He chuckled, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"This thing of his is so maddening." The blonde one, Glorfindel, said.
"She isn't that bad."
"Yes, she is! Every time she comes here, trouble isn't far behind."
"How is that, Glorfindel?" Estel asked.
"Well, the Prince will invite you to take one of these "trips" of his and the both of you end up in danger. Then, you two will come crawling back either here or to Mirkwood, near death." Estel laughed.
"That is not true!"
"Yes, it is!"
"Tell me, when have we-" He was cut off by the second elf, Erestor, who shouted frantically.
"Grab her!" Glorfindel and Estel turned their attention back to the bird who swooped down over Glorfindel's head and tugged on a lock of his white-blonde hair. Erestor swung his net over her, but only succeeded in catching the Balrog Slayer's head. The falcon had already perched herself back in the rafters and made almost a laughing screech.
Glorfindel glared at her and rubbed his head.
"If Legolas doesn't come within a week, that bird is going to meet it's maker." Espenshade cried happily and danced across the beam.
"Yea, laugh now." He said and turned to walk away, but he felt something drop onto his head. He put his hand on his head and gasped. Bird droppings had been mashed into his hair. Glorfindel swept around and shook his fist at her.
"Curse you, you dumb rat!" Espenshade hopped around, screeching excitedly. Estel laughed hysterically and applauded her.
"Good girl, Espenshade! Legolas has been teaching you well!" She flapped her long, golden wings. "Now, come on down from there and let me see what Legolas has sent."
Espenshade immediately stopped screeching and stared at the future King of Men.
"Come on, girl." She didn't move. "Don't make me come up there." He warned, but she only hissed at him. Estel shrugged. "Fine. Have it your way." He pulled up a chair under where she perched and stepped up onto it. Espenshade then swooped down to him and started scratching at his face with her talons.
"Espenshade! Stop!" He yelled, but she gave no heed. Estel fell backwards off the chair. She followed him as he ran out of the room. Glorfindel and Erestor slammed the doors as Estel ran past.
"Not that bad, is she, Estel?" Glorfindel mocked him.
"Be quiet." He panted.
"I don't understand how that young lad can control such a creature." Erestor commented. "It is almost as if he didn't even tame her." Estel looked over to him.
"I don't think he did."
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Legolas and Lothron were neck and neck in a race to the Gladden Fields. The four siblings had divided the race into three days and were within ¼ from the Fields. The ground thundered beneath the horses, leaving everything just a blur to the riders. Norui
and Melyanna were far back due to their constant fighting and bickering. Instead of it being a normal race, the two had turned it into a knock-each-other-off-their-horse-first race.
"You better push her harder, Lothron, or you are going to be eating Cuilpantiel's dust!" Legolas told his oldest sister. She merely laughed.
"It looks to me like your purebred is going to be beaten by my mix!"
"No way, she can take anything!"
"Then why is she bleeding at the snout?" She asked with a smirk.
"She is what?!" Legolas leaned forward over the mare's neck and to feel her snout, causing her to slow down a bit and giving Lothron the lead.
"Hey, she is- Lothron! You cheater!" He shouted and she laughed.
"Serves you right for setting us up!" She laughed again.
They quickly made it to the Gladden Fields and dismounted.
"Good girl, Ethiriel! You showed that old pony!" She patted the mare on the withers and let her wander. Legolas did the same to his horse.
"Cuilpantiel is not a pony, she is a thoroughbred, and you cheated to win."
"I did not cheat. You never said that I could not trick you into slowing down." She grinned.
"You are supposed to assume you aren't allowed to do that. It is common sense, but obviously you don't have any." He smirked and she just rolled her eyes. Norui then came up, his horse trotting proudly with it's head held high. Norui smiled smugly.
"What happened to Melyanna?" They asked him.
"Oh, she decided to take a swim." He said, hopping off of his horse. They then heard a splash on the bank of the Anduin. They turned to see what it was and laughed. Melyanna was crawling up the bank, followed by her mare.
"Shut up, you guys. It isn't funny." The mare trotted up into the grass and shook it's coat, sending water flying every where. Norui led his stallion to the water and patted it's back.
"There you go, drink up. You did a good job." He wrapped his arms around the horse's neck and sniffed in his fresh scent.
"I hope he gets colic." Melyanna mumbled.
"Melyanna!" He covered the stallion's ears. "Don't say that! I thought you loved Urúvion."
"I do, as long as you aren't riding him."
"He looks even more handsome when I ride him, though." Melyanna scoffed.
"Yea, right."
"He does!" Norui argued.
"He looks ugly with you on him! He would look a little better if Legolas rode him." At hearing his name mentioned, Legolas cleared his throat.
"Don't bring me into this. How about you and Lothron go look for Aragorn? He should be here by now, I think." Lothron jumped at this and was already gone. Melyanna followed her eagerly, forgetting her argument.
Legolas plopped down in the grass, soon followed by his mare. She rested her large head in his lap and Legolas stroked it.
"How do you feel, Norui?" The Crown Prince sat down beside his brother.
"Better. It doesn't bother me anymore."
"That is good." He replied.
"How is your wound? Has it healed yet?" Legolas lifted up his tunic and under tunic to show that his wound has been stitched up partially. Norui furrowed his brow.
"Did you forget how to stitch or something? It isn't even fully closed!"
"I, uh, got distracted." Legolas shifted uncomfortably and lowered his tunic.
"Oh, well, you should get it fixed sometime." Legolas nodded. Urúvion then came up behind his master and rested his head on the elf's. Saliva then came pouring out of his mouth and dripped down Norui's head. He gasped.
"Urúvion, have you been eating clover again?!" He pushed the stallion away. Cuilpantiel still lay peacefully with her rider. Legolas lay down on his side and kissed her nose, then wrapped his arms around the horse's neck. Norui watched them, dumping his canteen of water onto his head in an attempt to get the spit off.
"Legolas, I think you should marry your horse and forget about the she-elves at home." He chuckled.
"Don't you think that would be some funny looking offspring?"
"True." They laughed.
"I wonder if Espenshade made it to Rivendell alright." Legolas thought aloud, sighing.
"I don't know. If the girls don't find him, maybe we should go there."
"Yes, that would be good." Norui looked out into the distance.
"Speaking of them, here they come." Lothron came striding up, followed by her sister, with a depressed look on her face.
"No luck, I assume, by your faces." Legolas said. They nodded solemnly. "Alright then." He patted his mare's neck and she popped up.
"What are we going to do?" Melyanna asked.
"We are going to get him ourselves." Norui informed them. The two girls' eyes lit up.
"I call Elrohir!" Lothron shouted happily.
"Good! I get Elladan!" Melyanna jumped around excitedly. Norui shook his head in disbelief.
"Females." He scoffed. He leapt up onto Urúvion and Legolas leapt onto Cuilpantiel. Lothron and Melyanna had already ridden off.
"I wonder if they remembered the marsh." Norui chuckled. They rode to the top of a hill, laughing at the two she-elves leading their horses out of a pool of slop, covered head to toe in the grime from the marsh.
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There you go. Another chapter. The longest one I have written too. YAY! Anyways, I want to tell you something.
IMPORTANT PLEASE READ
The reason why I haven't updated in a while is because I haven't been feeling motivated enough to type up another chapter that probably won't get reviews. I put a lot of time into making this story and I thought it might get more reviews than it has. I guess I will continue posting, but it won't be done nearly as fast as it has been in the past. I know not every story is great and gets lots of reviews, but I can't help but feel this way. Thanks for reading.
Until Next Time, I guess,
Manwathiel
