"She couldn't have found it." Celeborn said, fairly confidently. Yet air around him was still dusted with the memory of his recent past failures. "Not this time."

"Yes, she could." Ferdan said with enough faith that the tone was lazy.

"She couldn't possibly," Celeborn continued, more doubtful, "I had three entire days to go and hide it somewhere fitting!"

"Yes," Ferdan agreed without lifting his arm from where it draped over his closed eyes to cover them from the sun, "And I told her to go and get it."

Celeborn offered to the few gathered around, "Maybe she gave up."

"Avaleina doesn't give up," Five voices chorused at once: Ferdan, Legolas, Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen.

"She has to be ordered back," Legolas continued but paused when Ferdan snorted with a mixture of fond amusement and palpable frustration. The prince amended somewhat reluctantly, "Sometimes kicking, screaming, and scheming the whole way."

"Honestly," Ferdan added dryly, "As I get older I've figured out it's better for my sanity and therefore everybody else's to just let her run her course. Even when you think she's given up, she'll surprise you."

"Alright then," Celeborn conceded defeat before Avaleain and Elrond (the impartial judge) had returned back to the center of the valley, "She found it."

He sat back down on the bench behind him, "Astounding. Absolutely astounding, my men will be beyond displeased that their final rematch was another failure."

"Good," Ferdan said just slightly more than grunted, but the disdain still obvious, "Should teach them a lesson about questioning the abilities of my scouts. Especially, one of my best scouts."

"Nothing hides from Ava. Nothing." Legolas said, tinged with hindsight and eyes wide, "No matter who hides it, no matter what it is, she will find it if she wants to. Better to just not try to hide it at all."


"They won't be able to find us," Celeborn heard somebody whisper in dismay into the blackness of the hole that had swallowed them hours before.

"She'll find us." Celeborn assured his men instilling with confincinde as he could possibly be while whispering.

"We've been waiting for hours! We're too near the border for any scout to even search this far-"

Celeborn tried to cut him off, "I said. She'll find us."

"My lord," the voice almost pleaded, "You have been telling us that for hours. They have sent a Silvan-"

"Have faith in your Kin!" Celeborn snapped. "Have faith in the minds and talents that King Thranduil and Lord Ferdan have placed their own people into, and know that it is good enough for us to be put into!"

The darkness and silence swallowed them once more for some time.

Celeborn had begun to feel another altercation of sorts brewing, but before it could burst back into their space again he heard a conflict erupt from above them. Several solid thuds rumbled the earth, and a few strangled yelps of dying orcs bounced across the soil.

Moments laters, the trap door above them was lifted open to reveal glorious morning light, and Avaleina's smiling (and slightly bloody) face. "Good Morning! I heard you ordered a rescue mission?"


"Ava, no!" Celeborn had never heard somebody, not even Oropher, sound as stern as Ferdan had with those two words. And was halfway surprised to see that they had not crumbled Avaleina directly in half with the weight of them.

She just crossed her arms and said, "Ferdan, yes."

"We will find another way!"

"We both know that this is the best way!"

"We. Will. Find. An-"

"That's giving up! Since when did we do that?"

"Avalei-"

"I'm not giving up!" She all but shouted in his face, "I'm going. Help me or do not!"

Their small contingency had been shocked into silence by their outbursts from two of their leaders, and Celeborn's people wisely followed suit.

Avaleina took a few steps towards Ferdan and took both of his hands into hers, "I can do this. I know I can, you just have to believe me."

The raw misery now in Ferdan's voice could have caused open wounds, "What if you can't?"

"Then I will have a quicker end than the rest of you are about to have." She informed, half serious and half joking. "This is what you trained me for, this is what I was made to do. Now let me go and do it."

Ferdan sighed, long and suffering. "Alright, but let us at least help to cover you on your way."

Ava smiled at him, sarcastic and cheeky as ever, "I don't need cover, I'm the best scout you've ever trained. Remember? I must leave now, the sun will be rising soon."

She turned to Celeborn and promised, "I will get the lower gate open for the attack. Please be ready when it is, something tells me I'll need cover after they realize i've opened it."


Celeborn could see that the sillougheted outline of Ferdan trembling very, very slightly and he laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He patted it a few times before withdrawing it once more to his own side, then gently nungjed him slightly through the connection Thranduil had created throughout all of the leader's mind, "She will find it."

Ferdan didn't respond, just kept staring forward with extreme precision to the place where they could remember there being a secret exit had been concealed. The one one had to wind down to the very bottom levels of the stronghold to reach. Wander past, through, and then under the center of evil of this side of the world.

"She's late." Ferdan breathed, and Celeborn just patted his shoulder again. Knowing that there was nothing he could have done or said that would ever be more reassuring than the years of experience and training Ferdan had witnessed and performed with her.

There are just some kinds of worry in this life nothing could ever ease except for the sight of a loved one in well condition.

"I hate this," An archer, Celeborn thought her name was Eloissa, whispered through their link, "I hate this so much."

"She'll be alright," Ferdan sent back.

Celeborn smiled a little to himself at Ferdans response, ever the protector and the comforter.

"Doesn't mean I like it."

They all lapsed into silence again, all eyes wanting desperately to look no where but where the door should be, but they needed to keep looking around. They need to be vigilant in every direction.

What seemed like an eternity, but was likely only ten minutes, there was the slightest movement from the stone wall down below. All eyes turned to watch one of the best sights in the entire world.

A door eased open silently, and a tiny and petite head peaked out from inside and looked around every which way. Then vanished again for two minutes before returning. This time she looked up to the ridge where her people were waiting for her, and Ferdan gave the smallest bird call to signal that she wasn't alone.

Looking up, around, and every possible way Avaleina paused to take a deep breath before sprinting out of her hiding spot. The door remained slightly ajar, her mission a success.

There was only a brief stretch of bare ground before even Celeborn himself was not able to keep track of her movements or which direction she had chosen to scramble away. But judging by the eagle-like tracking of Ferdan's eyes, he knew exactly where she was.

Without word or command, the greenwood elves began to uniformly withdraw themselves away from the massive structure and back towards the relative safety of their siege line.

Where Avaleina stood waiting for them. Ferdan broke ranks and lighty ran up the hill to scoop her up into a deeply relieved hug, "I can hardly believe you did that!"

"You should expect more from your best scout."


Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it!