Growing Pains- Chapter 4

This chapter is a little shorter than the last one (the last one was actually quite a bit longer than I had intended it to be, but I couldn't cut it off at any point). So this is only about 3-4k long, because I wanted to end it on a really nice cliffhanger!

So sorry about the cliffhanger (haha I'm not really). Thanks to everyone who has read this story, followed it or reviewed!

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

"Estel!"

The voice rang out over Imladris, a bird spiralling up from the rooftops at the shout. Another voice joined the first one.

"Estel! Hurry up or we will leave without you!"

The two dark-haired elves laughed as their shout echoed around Imladris, and the doors onto the courtyard were flung wide open. Another blond elf, standing by his horse, chuckled as a young man sprinted headfirst down the steps, nearly tripping over his own feet in his haste.

Estel grinned as he jumped down the last few steps, swinging his pack over his shoulder. "I'm here," he said. "And you two aren't even ready to leave yet." He pointed at Elrohir's pack at his feet, and the pack of food in his hand.

Elladan laughed. "But it was worth it, little brother, to see you nearly fall over your own feet in your hurry." He took the pack of food from Elrohir's hand, and as his brother began to pack the last things into his pack, Elladan turned and tossed the pack of food behind him.

Estel watched as it soared through the air, and was sure it was going to hit the floor. At the last minute, Legolas, who had been watching with a smile on his face, stepped forwards calmly and caught the package squarely in one hand. He laughed.

"You have to try better than that, Elladan," he said with a chuckle. He moved his horse forwards and chucked the pack of food back at Elrohir. Estel slung his pack over his shoulder and headed over to where his horse was standing. Snagging the reins in one hand, he led his stallion over to the other three elves.

"Here," said Elladan, passing him another pack. "Medical supplies."

Estel rolled his eyes. "Isn't that slightly overprotective? Again?"

"Do you think Adar will let us leave if we do not have that pack?" asked Elrohir. "We will not go anywhere if that pack is not tied very tightly onto your saddle."

"Why not your saddle?" asked Estel with a grimace as he tied the pack onto his saddle and tugged at it to make sure it was secure. A blanket was already rolled up and tied behind his saddle, and his horse turned and nudged at the pack as Estel looked over at the twins. He chuckled and pushed his nose back as he raised one eyebrow at Elladan. "Well?"

Elladan chuckled and tapped the pack already tied to his saddle. "I already have my supplies, muindor," he said. "So does Elrohir."

Estel turned and looked over at Legolas, who was standing and absent-mindedly stroking his grey horse's nose. "So much for being ready," he said. "You don't even have your saddle yet!"

Legolas raised one eyebrow and smiled. "Who said I was using a saddle?" He grinned and his horse snorted, as if indignant. He only had one pack slung over his shoulder, along with his quiver and weapons, and his horse had a blanket over its back, with small packs tied to each side. But there was no saddle, and not even a bridle.

Estel frowned slightly as Legolas murmured something in the Silvan tongue, something that Estel could not understand nearly as well as Sindarin. His horse snorted again and then stood perfectly still as Legolas vaulted up onto his back. Legolas touched his horse gently on the neck, and his horse moved forwards, coming around Elladan and Elrohir's stallions and standing in front of Estel.

Estel's frown deepened. "Even Glorfindel rides with tack," he said. "Surely you cannot go without?"

Legolas shook his head. "I am a wood elf, Estel. None of us ride with tack. And our horses are so surefooted in Mirkwood, we never need it." He laughed. "You should try it sometime."

Estel laughed. "I did once, when I was younger. The horse took off and jumped the fence, and I fell off and broke my arm. I ride with a saddle and bridle now."

Legolas laughed softly. "It is easier, in Mirkwood," he said. "It means if we need to move warriors quickly, we do not have to spend time putting on a bridle or a saddle." His gaze tightened slightly. "We have to be ready at a moment's notice."

Estel frowned as he saw the slightly far-away gaze on Legolas' face, and the way he absent-mindedly fiddled with the straps holding his quiver to his back. But his gaze was drawn away when he heard footsteps coming from inside the household, and he looked up to see his father and Glorfindel descending the steps. By the time he glanced back to Legolas, the blond elf was merry again, talking and laughing with Elladan.

Elrond smiled as he came to stand in front of the three younger elves and Estel. "How long will you be gone?" he asked, his voice quiet, though instantly all four of them stopped talking.

"A day or two," said Elladan. "We are heading out to the campsite outside the borders, so we will ride for most of this day, spend a day or so in the clearing, and then take the shorter route back."

Glorfindel frowned. "The shorter route should be alright, if it doesn't rain. The river is already swollen there, and there is no ford."

"Aye, we know," said Elrohir with a smile. "We need to leave soon, if we are to get to the clearing before dark." He slung his final bag over his horse and put his foot in his stirrup, springing lightly into the saddle. Elrohir and Estel followed suit.

"Be careful," said Elrond as they wheeled their horses around to face the path leading away from the household. Estel laughed and looked back over his shoulder. Elrond stood shoulder to shoulder with Glorfindel, the latter's golden hair lit up in the morning sunlight.

"Do not worry, Adar," he said cheerfully. "We will be back before you know it."

"I'd prefer not," said Glorfindel dryly. "It will be peaceful for a day or two, with all of you gone."

Estel laughed again, and at a shout from Elladan and Elrohir, he pushed his horse on and followed the three elves as they rode out of the courtyard. The clattering of the hooves on the courtyard stone faded out as the horses met the muddier track leading out of the valley, and eventually the four horses disappeared from even elven sight, cantering along the track and up towards the ford. Elrond and Glorfindel watched them go.

Elrond sighed slightly, and Glorfindel turned to him. "What is it, mellon-nin?" he asked softly. One hand drummed on the hilt of his sword as he looked out around the courtyard. It was strangely quiet.

Elrond shook his head. "I do not know," he said slowly. "But I am already worried for them. You know what happens when my sons and Legolas come together." He chuckled slightly.

"You have foreseen something?" asked Glorfindel quietly. "If you have, and it involves the young Thranduilion, then I will gladly ride out and drag them back. The last time Legolas was injured on our watch, Thranduil nearly had my head. Besides," he said softly. "The last thing we want is for Estel to be injured. His time is coming."

"It will not be for a long time, at least to Estel," said Elrond softly. "He still has so much to learn. But I have not foreseen anything. I just…" He sighed. "I just have a bad feeling about this."

"Elladan and Elrohir will protect Estel with their lives," said Glorfindel. "You know this. Legolas will too, if it comes to it. He would give his life for Estel. He could be in no safer hands."

"And that is what worries me," murmured Elrond. He turned to Glorfindel. "What happens if Estel comes into danger, and Elladan or Elrohir, or Legolas, throw themselves in front of the arrow, or take the sword, instead of him? Not only will they be endangering their own lives, but Estel may have to watch one or more of them struggle for it. And he is only sixteen."

Glorfindel shrugged slightly. "What will be will be, Elrond," he said. "You know this as well. I do think you are worrying over nothing, mellon-nin. There have not been orcs sighted in the area for a few months now, and things have been quiet. Many were killed off six years ago outside Erebor, and their numbers are still diminished. Besides," he said with a smile. "You give me no credit. I taught your sons how to defend themselves, and though I did not teach Legolas, you and I both know his skills with a bow are nearly unparalleled. They will protect each other, Elrond."

Elrond smiled slightly. "I know," he said. He turned and began to walk back inside with Glorfindel by his side.

Glorfindel smiled. "Are you sure you are not just thinking this because you do not want to be on the receiving end of Thranduil's wrath?"

Elrond laughed. "That is true," he said. "Thranduil's wrath is a fearsome thing, we both know that." He chuckled. "And you weren't there that night outside the Black Gates, at the Last Alliance. I was sure that I was losing my head then, or at least a limb."

Glorfindel chuckled. "Aye, Turgon could be the same in Gondolin," he said. "Of course, Ecthelion and I knew it to be a bluff, but others didn't always realise." He laughed at the memories. "It did not help that Ecthelion and I used to irritate him on purpose."

Elrond smiled. "Come," he said. "There are things we must do." The two elves ascended the steps up inside Imladris, but Elrond couldn't help glancing back at the track leading out of Imladris, the track that his sons and Legolas had only just disappeared down. He hoped that this time, no harm would come to any of them.

0-o-0-o-0

They had been riding for most of the day, and the sun had reached its peak in the sky and was falling, down into the slowly gathering darkness surrounding the hills and trees. The water splashed up around the hocks of the horses and the four stallions moved through the river.

Legolas urged his horse onwards, reaching the far bank of the Bruinen, and checked his grey stallion, wheeling it around with the lightest touches to wait for the other three horses. Legolas laughed as Estel's horse pawed at the rushing water with a snort, and Estel quickly pulled up his stallion's head with a grin.

"Do not let him roll!" called out Elladan as his horse heaved itself onto the bank and shook itself off. "That happened to Elrohir once."

"Elladan, you swore you would not repeat that," said Elrohir with a groan. "Nobody had to know."

"Well, we know now," said Estel, pulling his horse's head up again and kicking him forwards so he too reached the far bank. "What happened?"

"Aye, what happened?" asked Legolas with a smile as the four horses turned and began to walk up the muddy track, now out of the valley of Imladris. There was a difference, Estel noticed, as they walked. He zoned out of the conversation now going on between his brothers and Legolas and studied the trees and undergrowth on either side of them as they walked.

In simple terms, it was darker. Only slightly, not enough to be noticed unless you spent most of your life in the safe haven of Imladris. Yet it was there, it was present. Estel could see how the shadows the trees cast were maybe a little longer, a little deeper, than what he normally saw in Imladris. But maybe it was only because he was looking for it. Shadows often grow darker when your eye falls on them.

But there was something else, thought Estel, as Legolas and the twins continued to talk and laugh about something. He knew the three of them would notice the difference; after all, if a mortal could, then three elves would be able to as well. Yet they had spent so many years fighting the darkness, beating back the shadow, that maybe all lighter places merged into one. Maybe they didn't look for the little differences, so relieved to see any difference at all.

So maybe, thought Estel, they did not, or would not notice the slight difference in the air, the hint of heaviness, of darkness that existed outside Imladris' borders. But Estel thought he could sense something, at least. It was like inside Imladris everything was so much…stiller. In a way, that meant peaceful, but it was also as if Imladris was in a different place to everywhere else. Estel knew that didn't make much sense, but it was the only way he could put it. Outside the borders, across the river, everything around him was a little bit darker, aye, but it was also so much more alive.

Estel's brow furrowed as he thought this. He had known for a long time that things were different outside Imladris. His brothers had patiently and carefully explained the horrors that existed in the world to him, had sat him down one day and taken as long as a young child had needed to understand it all. But Elladan and Elrohir had never touched on the sheer volume of things that were alive in the world. As Estel looked around at the woods surrounding them, he realised how much more there was than shadow under the trees.

His brothers may not be able to notice it, thought Estel with a sudden and unexpected pang. Legolas may not see it either, though Estel did not know. He did not know Legolas well, and he was a wood elf as well. Estel was pretty sure, judging by Legolas' smile as he looked around him at the woods either side of them, that the blond elf was more than able to sense the life running underneath everything.

Laughter came from the three elves in front of him, and Estel's gaze flicked back to them as Legolas, riding just in front of him, turned and smiled at him. Estel grinned back, finding himself again instinctively liking the blond elf from Mirkwood.

"How fast is your stallion?" asked Legolas, raising one eyebrow. Elladan and Elrohir both rolled their eyes.

"Do you really need to race him?" asked Elladan with a sigh. "I was enjoying the peace."

Legolas laughed. "Mellyn-nin, whilst us three are together there will be no peace! And I was not suggesting a race between Estel and I." He glanced down at the track they were riding down. "The track is wide enough for four."

"Only just," pointed out Estel. He grinned at Legolas. "But then that makes it a little more interesting." He gathered up his reins and his horse, picking up on the sudden change in mood, snorted and tensed up underneath him. Legolas touched the sleek grey neck of his stallion and said something in Elvish that Estel didn't catch.

"What did you say to him?" he asked. Legolas grinned and repeated the words he had spoken, and Estel frowned. "Is that…?"

"Silvan," said Legolas. "I probably speak it more in Mirkwood than I do Sindarin. Not every elf in Mirkwood speaks Sindarin, so most of the time I speak Silvan on patrol, or when speaking with most elves. I only really speak Sindarin with my father or the other lords, like the councils, even though I can speak it perfectly well."

"I have never heard either of you speak it," said Estel, nodding at Elladan and Elrohir. Elladan shrugged.

"We have never had cause," he said. "We can speak it well, of course, but have only used it in Mirkwood before." He laughed. "Legolas just told his horse to throw yours off the path if necessary."

Estel laughed as Legolas shot a glare at Elladan. "The race is on, then," he said, pushing his horse forwards. Legolas eyed him as he drew level, before Estel suddenly shouted and kicked his horse forwards. The stallion, already tense, bolted like a loosed arrow, his hooves biting into the earth as he pushed himself forwards. Instantly Legolas' stallion shot forwards at a touch from Legolas, closely followed by Elladan and Elrohir's two horses. The four galloped down the wide earthen track, hooves pounding into the earth, the wind whipping into their faces. In a second they were gone, the only trace of them the rustling of the breeze in the leaves overhead.

0-o-0-o-0

The four horses pounded down the track, the riders leaning forwards, urging them on. In front, a young man on a dark stallion was racing neck and neck against a grey horse, urged on by a blond elf.

Estel laughed as Legolas slipped behind him slightly, and urged his horse on down the track, digging his heels into the stallion's flanks. The trees and bushes either side of them flashed past, going unnoticed by the elf and the young man.

The head of Legolas' stallion slipped back to Estel's knee, and Legolas, minutely adjusting his balance on top of his horse, leant forwards and murmured something in Silvan. His horse twitched one ear in response, before bunching his muscles and leaping forwards again. He grinned as his horse's head inched forwards until he was level with Estel once more.

Behind them, Elladan and Elrohir galloped together, though they had both decided to take no part in the race when they had seen the determination on Estel's face. Keeping up a pace fast enough to keep Estel and Legolas in sight, Elladan and Elrohir's stallions almost moved in sync, oddly similar to their riders.

Elladan grinned as he heard a shout of laughter from his little brother ahead. Further down the track, the path split in two. A wider path continued on straight, whilst a small and muddier track trailed off to the right.

Legolas glanced over at Estel. "Which way?" he shouted, making himself heard over the rush of wind and the pound of hooves.

Estel looked over. "Doesn't matter!" he cried out, turning his horse slightly to the right and aiming for the wider track. "Both end up in the clearing!"

Legolas nodded, and took advantage of the slight turn to push his horse onwards and overtake Estel. The blond elf laughed as his horse's head drew in front of Estel's, and Estel grinned, retaliating by digging his heels in and pushing his horse onwards.

Elrohir smiled at the sight of his little brother racing away, but his smile was short-lived when suddenly his horse stumbled and nearly fell. Elrohir threw his weight back and pulled on the reins, pulling his stallion's head up and allowing it to regain his balance.

Elladan reigned in his horse, watching as Estel and Legolas took the wider track and kept galloping on. "What is it?" he asked Elrohir, who had jumped off of his horse and was running his hand down one foreleg. "What happened?"

"I don't know," said Elrohir, gently patting his horse's shoulder. "He suddenly stumbled, and nearly fell. I don't know if he injured this leg."

Elladan dismounted, murmuring a few words to his stallion to make sure it stayed still, before joining Elrohir at his horse. Elrohir ran his hand down the horse's leg again, and clicked gently. "Pick it up," he said softly, leaning into the horse's shoulder so that he would pick up his hoof.

The stallion snorted softly and obligingly picked up his hoof. Elrohir studied it carefully.

"Anything?" asked Elladan. "He may have damaged a tendon instead."

Elrohir shook his head. "His leg isn't hot, and he did not flinch when I felt down his leg." He put the foot down and moved to the other side, picking up the other foreleg.

"Got it!" Elrohir said triumphantly. "Do you have your dagger, Elladan? I can't get to mine without putting the hoof down, and now I have seen what's in his hoof, I don't really want to."

Elladan nodded, and moved around to the other side of the horse, glancing over briefly at his own stallion, making sure that he was still staying there. His horse looked over at Elladan as he glanced over, and twitched an ear indignantly. Elladan chuckled.

"Here," he said, taking a short knife from his belt and flipping it in his hand so he lightly held the blade. He offered it to Elrohir. "What is it?"

"A stone," said Elrohir, taking the knife and using it to lever a massive stone out from the bars of his horse's hoof. "Probably bruised the sole, but it shouldn't be bad enough to make him lame. We can continue, if we take it a bit slower."

Elladan nodded, grimacing as his knife scraped against the stone stuck in the hoof. "Be careful," he said. "I happen to like that dagger. I have had it for a long time."

"I know," said Elrohir, adjusting his grip on the knife and trying to lever the stone out from a different angle. "I was the one who gave it to you."

"Aye, I remember," said Elladan with a smile. He grinned as the stone was finally flicked out and landed in the mud of the path. Elrohir stood up, letting go of his horse's hoof and straightening up. He handed the knife back over to Elladan. "There. Not even a scratch."

Elladan laughed and stuck the knife back in his belt. "Does he seem alright?" he asked, as Elrohir led his horse forwards a few steps.

"Aye," said Elrohir. With a few words and a click of his tongue he urged the horse on into a trot for a few steps.

"He looks fine," said Elladan, watching the horse's gait carefully. "We should be alright."

"We will take it slowly, anyway," said Elrohir. "Estel and Legolas took the wider path. The other way is quicker, but it would have gotten too narrow for them to ride along. If we take the narrower path, we can travel slowly and still arrive around the same time as our dear brother and friend." He flicked the reins back over his horse's head with practised ease, and then mounted up again, swinging himself up onto his stallion's back. Elladan did the same, and the two brothers turned their horses to the right and began to walk down the narrow track, away from Estel and Legolas.

0-o-0-o-0

Estel grinned again as the two horses thundered down the track. He glanced behind him briefly, but could no longer see either of his brothers. It didn't matter though. He knew the way to the clearing, and this track only took you there. His brothers may have taken the other path to get there. It would be quicker for them, but then they were not racing a certain blond elf who was currently in front of him. Estel turned his mind back to the race and urged his horse on again. His horse was elvish, a large stallion, still young enough, yet fit enough to keep running for a long time.

Legolas risked a glance back as he heard the hooves behind him quicken, and saw Estel drawing near again. He grinned at the young man, and turned his gaze back to the track in front of him. The grin vanished from his face as he saw, just in front of them, an area covered in dead leaves. To the side, something that looked suspiciously like a thin rope snaked out from underneath the leaves.

It was too late, though. Legolas barely had time to sit up before his horse charged straight into the trap. A noose tightened around his horse's leg and suddenly Legolas felt his stallion fall beneath him, his horse crying out in a noise that sounded eerily like a screaming child as his leg snapped. Behind him, Estel's horse threw its head up and skidded to a halt, but Legolas' stallion had never had the chance. With the rope tight around its leg, it fell down, flipping over itself and crashing down on the track floor. A sickening crack echoed through the woods.

It sounded clichéd to Estel, but it literally happened to fast for him to make sense of it all. At one moment Legolas was galloping ahead in front of him. The next moment, his horse screamed out loud and fell down, crashing to the floor. Legolas disappeared underneath his screaming horse.

To Be Continued...

*peeks out from around the corner* If you kill me for the cliffhanger, then you won't find out what happens! I might go hide for a little while now. Next chapter will be up on Wednesday. As always, reviews are very welcome. :)