Chapter 4: A Reasonable Explanation

Elladan's point of view*

"We should go after him." Elladan said, petting Legolas's horse absently. He was quite worried about his friend , and that the ear wound seemed to be fresh, and Legolas hadn't gone hunting orcs anytime that day, or so he thought. Plus, Legolas just seemed off. He usually wasn't that quick to anger and he seemed troubled by something.

"No, we should let him be." Elrohir responded to him, sighing. "But I think we should tell Ada about this, I have a feeling the story behind that injury that is more complicated than we think." (Dad)

Elladan nodded, agreeing with his brother, "So we'll just tell Ada what we've observed and see if there is a reasonable explanation for Legolas's odd behavior?" (Dad)

"Yes, that's exactly what we'll do." Elrohir confirmed.

"I hope he just went on an orc hunt recently that we had no idea about or we have somehow never seen that injury before and it only looks fresh because it re-opened..." Elladan muttered, but he had a feeling that neither of those was the case and that something, or someone, else had injured Legolas's ear.

Elladan walked out of the stables, Elrohir at his heels. He made his way up to Elrond's study. He knew that they weren't really allowed to come disturb Elrond at such a late time, but he felt that breaking that rule would be okay since they had a good reason.

Elladan reached the door to Elrond's study. Elrohir knocked on the door. They waited for a few minutes, seeing if their father just needed a minute or something. Elladan shifted his balance ever so slightly.

"I'm going in." He suddenly exclaimed, having run out of patience. Elrohir nodded, agreeing with his choice.

Elladan pushed open the door, peering inside his father's study. His father wasn't there. He frowned. Erestor must have made his father go rest. He turned back to his brother, closing the door.

"Ada's not there. We'll have to ask him about Legolas tomorrow." Elladan stated. (Dad)

"That's strange..." Elrohir muttered, and Elladan fully agreed, "...but I guess we can ask him where he was tomorrow. I'm sure there is a reason." Elrohir said the last sentence confidently, but Elladan had a feeling that Elrohir, like him, wasn't exactly sure if there was a reason. Or if he wanted to know the reason.

"I sure hope there is." Elladan replied, deciding that despite his doubts that he needed to find out what was bothering his friend and help fix it. Even if he had to wait. "I'm going to go rest," he headed off down the hallway, Elrohir following him, for their rooms were right next to each other. They parted ways once they reached their rooms.

Elladan shut his door and sighed. He hated waiting.

Elrond's Point of view, a few minutes earlier*

Elrond tapped his fingers on his desk, his quill in his other hand. He was thinking about the vision he had had a couple months ago, as he often did when he got distracted.

Elrond, despite trying to convince himself that he should not worry about the vision and that it was not that serious since it was on 'Earth', not Arda, had felt a growing sense of dread ever since his vision. He felt that something was off, although he could not explain it. He felt stupid for being so paranoid about something that was on 'Earth', but whenever he tried to push his dread and worry aside, it didn't work. The feeling that something -that was most definitely bad- was coming, would not leave him.

Elrond felt he should tell someone about his vision, maybe get another opinion. He stopped tapping his fingers on his desk. That was it! He'd tell Gandalf! Well, he would once he'd perfectly crafted the way he would say it so that it'd make sense and he would not sound crazy or embarrass himself. He nodded to himself. It was a perfect plan, he thought.

He pulled out an empty piece of parchment and dipped his quill in ink, then set to work on crafting the perfect way to describe his vision and thoughts.

Elrond has only just started to get to the end of perfectly describing his vision and thoughts when someone knocked on his door. He quickly shoved the parchment he was writing on into a drawer and put his quill away.

Elrond stood up, straightened his robes and walked over to the door, opening it. To his great surprise, it was Gandalf.

"Mithrandir, I did not expect to see you this late." Elrond said, looking slightly surprised.

"I am sorry if I have disturbed you, but I assure you I come for a good reason." Gandalf looked at Elrond, and paused. "Do you mind if I have a word with you?"

Elrond raised his eyebrow, gesturing for Gandalf to come into his study, "I do not, you may come in." Elrond waited for Gandalf to enter, then shut and locked the door behind him. He returned to his chair behind his desk. "Please, make yourself comfortable."

Gandalf sat down in a chair across from Elrond, removes his hat and set his staff against Elrond's desk.

"I noticed something strange during the feast." Gandalf stated. Elrond looked at him, confused.

"Oh?" Elrond's eyebrows drew together, and he looked even more confused than he had before. Had something been wrong with the food? Was Rivendell in trouble somehow?

"It doesn't have to do with Rivendell or the feast," Gandalf reassured as if he read Elrond's mind, "it has to do with one of your guests."

Elrond sighed, "What is it this time? Is the dwarf complaining about their not being enough meat in the feast? Are the hobbits not satisfied with the quantity of the feast? Or have they found something else to complain about?" Elrond rubbed his temples, looking quite annoyed. He really didn't have the patience or the energy for pleasing his guests.

"Did I not tell you it didn't have to do with the feast? And it does not concern the hobbits or the dwarves." Gandalf stated. Elrond took in a deep breath, composing himself.

"Has Estel gotten himself injured?" He asked, remembering how Aragorn got himself injured nearly every time he came to Rivendell.

"No, it is not Estel." Gandalf said. Elrond frowned. It must be a king's luck then, which had prevented Aragorn from getting injured, since he had recently been crowned king of Gondor.

Elrond looked into the distance. Only one other person had been at the feast... "What is wrong with Legolas?" Elrond finally asked, looking back towards Gandalf.

"I do not know just yet, but he seemed a bit anxious and lost in thought. And while I wasn't paying attention he slipped away. One minute he was there, and the next he was gone." Gandalf confessed. Elrond stood up and started to pace.

"If anything bad happened to Legolas in Rivendell to cause him to act so unlike himself Thranduil will surely have my head..." Elrond muttered, then stood still and made eye contact with Gandalf, "I will speak with Legolas and try to find out what is wrong."

Gandalf nodded, "I will take my leave now." He grabbed his hat, placed it one his head, took his staff into his hand and hastily walked out of the room.

"There must be a reasonable explanation for Legolas's behavior." Elrond muttered to himself, walking out the door a few seconds after Gandalf and closing the door behind him. He made his way quickly down the hallways of Rivendell to the room Legolas was staying in. He tried not to draw attention to himself, but seeing as there were not many elves wandering the hall at such a late time, he did not really need to make sure he wasn't drawing attention to himself.

Elrond finally reached Legolas's door, and paused before knocking. He took a deep breath, preparing for the worst, then knocked on the door.

Legolas's point of view*

Legolas laid sprawled across his bed in a very un-elf like manner, not caring how he looked. It wasn't like it matter though, since Elrond was sure to come and knock on his door and question him until the sun had sunk far below the horizon and the moon was climbing ever higher in the sky. He sighed. He shouldn't have been so careless. He should have just ignored Elladan and Elrohir.

Legolas didn't even jump when he heard someone knock on his door. He had known it was coming. He knew who it was.

"Legolas?" Came Elrond's voice from the other side of the door. Legolas didn't answer. He just laid there, wishing he didn't have to be questioned or have to explain anything.

"Legolas, I know you are in there, I can hear every breath you take, do not pretend you are not there." Elrond's voice came again, quiet but stern. Legolas would have found the statement quite creepy if he had been paying attention, but he had busied himself with studying the ceiling and pondering his recent stupid choices.

Legolas heard a click, and silently cursed himself for forgetting to lock the door. He heard the door shut and Elrond's footsteps creeping closer. He didn't move his gaze from the ceiling, closing his eyes and dreading the question he knew was coming.

"Gandalf told me you were acting odd at the feast and that you left before the feast was ended." Legolas's eyes snapped open at Elrond's words. He had forgot about Gandalf's questioning gaze, but Elrond knew nothing about his injury. He relaxed slightly.

"What is the meaning for this behavior?" Elrond inquired after a long silence. Legolas did not answer, stubbornly deciding to keep silent.

"Do I need to go ask Estel? Or the twins?" Legolas could barely hear anything Elrond had said after hearing him say 'Estel'. He froze with a sudden terror, images of Aragorn's crazed eyes flashing across his vision, along with the blood there had been in his hair. Then the horror that had slowly spread across Aragorn's face after a strange confusion.

"No!" He suddenly bolted upright, staring right into Elrond's eyes. Elrond looked up at him with surprise. "You mustn't go to Estel!"

Elrond's eyebrows drew together, "Why not? Is there something wrong with Estel?" Legolas saw Elrond turn ever so slightly towards the door, as if he was going to go check on Aragorn right that minute, but Legolas rushed forward and grabbed his wrist.

"You must not!" Legolas shouted, ignoring the concerned glance Elrond have him.

"Now you have me worried. You usually wouldn't get this flustered over something if you were trying to hide it. Something is wrong that you are not telling me." Elrond looked deep into Legolas's eyes, examining them closely. Legolas squirmed, then let go of Elrond's wrist. He didn't like the way Elrond was searching his eyes, so he looked downwards.

"Saes, don't go see Estel... there is nothing wrong. I'm just... tired." Legolas sat back down on his bed. (Please)

Elrond looked at him once again, concern evident in his face, then he turned around and exited the room, shutting the door behind him. Legolas sighed, laying back on his bed once again. He'd just have to hope Elrond listened to him or else he would have some major explaining to do.