The Life of a Ranger
Chapter 7
Dxinsider I've decided not to do a chapter with the elflings punishment because I just can't remember what my ideas for that were.
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"Estel wake up," Elrond said, opening the curtains. "You'll be late for your archery lesson."
"I don't feel well," Estel moaned.
"You do have a temperature. Look at me," Elrond said. He could tell Estel was unwell so he said, "Go back to sleep. I'll go and tell Elladan you're ill."
"Can I still come hunting at the weekend?" Estel asked, now only half awake.
"We'll see. For now you have to rest though. I'll come and check on you during the morning," Elrond said, closing the curtains and helping Estel to get comfy.
"I'm sorry, Ada," Estel said quietly.
"What for?" Elrond replied, puzzled.
"When ever I get ill I'm always an awful nuisance to everyone."
"Your not a nuisance nin ion (my son)," Elrond said, stroking his forehead gently.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Elrond walked into Estel's room to check on him. He was sound asleep. He walked over to the window, pulled the curtains open slightly and looked out.
Very soon he heard moaning coming from the bed. He turned round and saw that Estel was waking up.
"Quel amrun (Good morning) Estel," he said, sitting down.
"Quel amrun," Estel replied, sleepily.
"How do you feel?"
"Tired but fine thank you. Please can I come hunting today?" Estel pleaded.
"Well," Elrond said, placing a hand on Estel's forehead. "You do have a slight temperature."
"Oh but Ada I feel fine," Estel protested.
"Drink this. And then go back to sleep for a bit," Elrond said, handing him a beaker.
"Yuck," Estel said after drinking it quickly. "What time is it?"
"Half five. Now come on get some more sleep."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
"Be careful Estel," Gilraen called to the retreating form of her son.
"I will. See you later naneth," he called back.
It had been decided, much to Estel's delight, that he would accompany the elves hunting for his first time.
So he was riding in the middle of the group of elves with Elladan, Elrohir and Elrond.
After an hour of riding they entered a clearing. Some elves started to make a small camp while others made sure the horses were fine. The rest of them carried on on foot.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
A good few hours later the hunting party returned. Tired but very happy.
They were all sitting around talking happily, waiting for the food to be prepared when a large group of orcs burst into the clearing.
Everyone jumped up weapons in hands ready for battle. Elladan and Elrohir either side of Estel.
Elladan was amazed at how calm Estel looked. He could tell Estel wasn't feeling very calm but he had obviously remembered what Elrohir had told him about not showing the enemy your fears.
The twins had planned to stay by Estel's side throughout the battle but they, and Elrond, found themselves gradually moving away from him.
When ever they could Elladan, Elrohir and Elrond shot Estel a quick glance to make sure he was ok but they soon lost sight of him.
Estel was battling with a large orc when it quickly thrust its sword into his leg. That was the last thing it ever did. As it was falling down the orcs sword was pulled sharply from Estel's leg.
If Estel thought the pain couldn't get any worse he was wrong. When the sword was ripped from his leg a white-hot pain flew from the wound all round his body.
As agonising as it was Estel knew he had to carry on.
As soon as the last orc was killed Estel walked as quickly as his leg would allow it to a nearby tree.
Leaning heavily against it he looked around at all the dead orcs and their blood. Before he knew it he was being sick.
He felt comforting hands rubbing his back and when he turned around he found a very concerned looking Elrond.
"Are you alright Estel?" he asked, worriedly.
"Yes Ada," he replied, shakily.
When Elrond pulled him into a hug he tried to stop the moan of pain that issued from his mouth but Elrond heard it anyway.
"What's wrong Estel?" he asked. "Are you hurt?"
"Just my leg," Estel replied, showing him the wound.
"You should have mentioned it before," Elrond said, leading him back into the centre of the camp. Which had now been cleared of the orcs. "Elladan, Elrohir can you get me some water, athelas and bandages please?" Elrond asked, helping Estel sit down.
"Yes Ada," they replied, before going of to find the requested items.
Although Elrond was cutting the legging away from the wound very gently it didn't stop it from hurting as Estel found out as Elrond pulled the material away.
"I'm sorry Estel. I've nearly got it off," Elrond said, sympathetically as he felt Estel squirm slightly in pain.
After inspecting the wound carefully Elrond left Estel to go and find Elladan and Elrohir with the items he needed.
"Ada, was the blade poisoned?" Elrohir asked anxiously, handing the bandages and athelas to Elrond.
"No, don't worry," Elrond said, walking back to Estel.
He put down what he was holding and said to Estel, "This will probably sting a little bit but not for long. Although after all the times I've had to patch you up, you should know it's not usually painless," he added.
"You haven't had to patch me up that much Ada," Estel said, forgetting about the pain in his leg.
"Really?" Elrond asked, raising an eyebrow in question. "Ready?" he asked, dipping the cloth into the water.
Estel nodded.
Elrond started wiping the dirt and things away from the wound but glanced quickly at the twins when Estel whimpered in pain.
Estel, noticing Elrond had stopped, said, "I'm alright Ada, carry on."
Elrond smiled gently at him and carried on.
When Elrond started again Estel felt a hand on either shoulder squeezing gently to take his mind of his leg.
"You know, you're getting quite good with a sword," Elrohir said in his ear. "I saw you kill quite a few orcs."
"There you go," Elrond said, standing up. "Elladan, can you come with me please?"
After they left Elrohir asked, "Are you alright Estel?" because he noticed how pale the boy was.
"I'm fine thanks 'Ro. Just tired."
Shortly Elrond and Elladan came back, holding two bowls of soup and some bread each. Elladan handed one of them to Elrohir, who accepted it gladly. When Elrond offered a bowl to Estel he declined saying, "No thank you Ada."
"Estel, you've had a tiring day and you need to eat something," Elrond said, kneeling down in front of him.
"I'm sorry Ada but I'm just not hungry," Estel said, looking away.
"Are you feeling ok?" Elrond asked, feeling Estel's forehead.
"I'm just tired," he replied, looking back at him.
"Rest then. We'll be heading home shortly. But Estel promise me you'll have something to eat when we get home," Elrond said firmly.
"I promise."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
When they arrived and all the other elves had gone to do different things Estel saw a figure approaching.
"Hi Naneth," he called.
"Hello. Did you have a nice day?" Gilraen asked.
"Yes, thank you."
"Are you alright?" she asked, noticing how he was leaning slightly on Elladan, then her eyes landed on his leg. "What happened to your leg?"
"Um.well," he said, looking at Elrond for help.
"I tell you what. Why don't you three go and clean up for dinner and I'll tell Gilraen what happened," Elrond suggested, seeing how uncomfortable Estel was, thinking about the day's events.
"Ok," they replied, before heading inside.
"What happened?" Gilraen asked.
"Well after we had finished hunting we were attacked by orcs and Estel got a bit hurt. It wasn't poisoned, he'll just be a bit sore for a while. Shall we go and have some dinner?"
"Yes."
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Elrond was glad when he saw that Estel was eating properly. He did notice something different about him though. His conversation with Elladan and Elrohir was missing his usual spark. But Elrond reminded himself that for a thirteen year old boy, today must have been a very tiring day.
When they had finished eating Estel said, "I'm going to go to bed if you don't mind."
"Of course we don't," Gilraen said walking over to him. "Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm fine, just tired."
"I'll see you in the morning," she said, kissing him gently.
"Estel," Elrond said. "I'll come up in a minute to have a look at your leg."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
When Elrond entered Estel's room he saw Estel lying in bed with a slight grimace on his face.
"How's you're leg?" he asked, setting the cream and spare bandages down.
"It hurts a bit," Estel replied, moving the duvet so Elrond could see it.
Elrond unwrapped the bandage and started to spread the cream over the wound. He felt Estel flinch when he started but he smiled when he felt him relax.
"Thank you, Ada," Estel said when he had finished.
"Your welcome," he replied, pulling the duvet back over him. "Good night."
"Night," Estel said, through a yawn.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
As Elrond was on his way outside for some fresh air during the night he heard someone moving in Estel's room. Next minute he heard what sounded like someone being sick.
He rushed in to find Estel being sick over the toilet. He ran over to him and put one arm round him to comfort him while the other hand went up to his forehead. Well he didn't have a temperature.
"Have you been up all night?" he asked, handing Estel a glass of water.
"Not all night. When I manage to fall asleep I get woken up by bad dreams," he admitted, knowing how childish that sounded.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Elrond said, kindly. "Would you like to tell me about the dreams?"
"Not really," he said sitting back down. "Well first I was just being chased by orcs but in the last one they caught me and made me watch as they. as they killed you, Naneth, 'Dan and 'Ro. I know it was only a dream but it was so real. I can't go back to sleep tonight," he said, looking pleadingly at Elrond.
"I'll be back in a minute," Elrond said, standing up.
Five minutes later he returned with a beaker. "You know when we had some soup in the woods today why didn't you want some?" he asked.
"Because I wasn't hungry and because it made me rather uncomfortable sitting in that clearing in case more orcs came," he replied.
"You should of said something and we would of waited until we got home to have anything to eat," Elrond said, handing him the beaker. "Here drink this. It'll give you dreamless sleep."
"Thank you," Estel said gratefully, before drinking it quickly.
After handing the beaker back to Elrond he made his way slightly unsteadily back into bed. Elrond covered him with the duvet and watched as he fell asleep before making his way outside.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
When Elrond woke up he went into Estel's room to see how he was. As he had expected the boy was sound asleep.
Just as he was leaving Estel's room Elladan and Elrohir bounded up to him saying, "Ada is Estel awake?" rather noisily.
"Shh," Elrond said, opening the door so they could see the sleeping form of their brother.
"He really should be awake by now though," Elrohir said.
"He had a hard night. Let him sleep," Elrond said, closing the door.
"What do you mean he had a hard night? Was his leg troubling him? Elladan asked.
"No he kept on having nightmares about orcs. And the last one was so bad it made him sick. I gave him something for dreamless sleep. Come on lets go and get some breakfast."
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Just as everyone was finishing breakfast a very sleepy looking Estel came in.
"Morning everyone," he said, helping himself to some toast.
"Morning. How are you feeling?" Elrond asked, offering him a glass of milk.
"Thank you," he said, taking the glass. "I'm alright. Thank you for last night Ada."
"Remember if you ever have trouble sleeping tell me ok," Elrond said quietly. so only Estel could here.
"I will."
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Please review.
Chapter 7
Dxinsider I've decided not to do a chapter with the elflings punishment because I just can't remember what my ideas for that were.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
"Estel wake up," Elrond said, opening the curtains. "You'll be late for your archery lesson."
"I don't feel well," Estel moaned.
"You do have a temperature. Look at me," Elrond said. He could tell Estel was unwell so he said, "Go back to sleep. I'll go and tell Elladan you're ill."
"Can I still come hunting at the weekend?" Estel asked, now only half awake.
"We'll see. For now you have to rest though. I'll come and check on you during the morning," Elrond said, closing the curtains and helping Estel to get comfy.
"I'm sorry, Ada," Estel said quietly.
"What for?" Elrond replied, puzzled.
"When ever I get ill I'm always an awful nuisance to everyone."
"Your not a nuisance nin ion (my son)," Elrond said, stroking his forehead gently.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Elrond walked into Estel's room to check on him. He was sound asleep. He walked over to the window, pulled the curtains open slightly and looked out.
Very soon he heard moaning coming from the bed. He turned round and saw that Estel was waking up.
"Quel amrun (Good morning) Estel," he said, sitting down.
"Quel amrun," Estel replied, sleepily.
"How do you feel?"
"Tired but fine thank you. Please can I come hunting today?" Estel pleaded.
"Well," Elrond said, placing a hand on Estel's forehead. "You do have a slight temperature."
"Oh but Ada I feel fine," Estel protested.
"Drink this. And then go back to sleep for a bit," Elrond said, handing him a beaker.
"Yuck," Estel said after drinking it quickly. "What time is it?"
"Half five. Now come on get some more sleep."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
"Be careful Estel," Gilraen called to the retreating form of her son.
"I will. See you later naneth," he called back.
It had been decided, much to Estel's delight, that he would accompany the elves hunting for his first time.
So he was riding in the middle of the group of elves with Elladan, Elrohir and Elrond.
After an hour of riding they entered a clearing. Some elves started to make a small camp while others made sure the horses were fine. The rest of them carried on on foot.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
A good few hours later the hunting party returned. Tired but very happy.
They were all sitting around talking happily, waiting for the food to be prepared when a large group of orcs burst into the clearing.
Everyone jumped up weapons in hands ready for battle. Elladan and Elrohir either side of Estel.
Elladan was amazed at how calm Estel looked. He could tell Estel wasn't feeling very calm but he had obviously remembered what Elrohir had told him about not showing the enemy your fears.
The twins had planned to stay by Estel's side throughout the battle but they, and Elrond, found themselves gradually moving away from him.
When ever they could Elladan, Elrohir and Elrond shot Estel a quick glance to make sure he was ok but they soon lost sight of him.
Estel was battling with a large orc when it quickly thrust its sword into his leg. That was the last thing it ever did. As it was falling down the orcs sword was pulled sharply from Estel's leg.
If Estel thought the pain couldn't get any worse he was wrong. When the sword was ripped from his leg a white-hot pain flew from the wound all round his body.
As agonising as it was Estel knew he had to carry on.
As soon as the last orc was killed Estel walked as quickly as his leg would allow it to a nearby tree.
Leaning heavily against it he looked around at all the dead orcs and their blood. Before he knew it he was being sick.
He felt comforting hands rubbing his back and when he turned around he found a very concerned looking Elrond.
"Are you alright Estel?" he asked, worriedly.
"Yes Ada," he replied, shakily.
When Elrond pulled him into a hug he tried to stop the moan of pain that issued from his mouth but Elrond heard it anyway.
"What's wrong Estel?" he asked. "Are you hurt?"
"Just my leg," Estel replied, showing him the wound.
"You should have mentioned it before," Elrond said, leading him back into the centre of the camp. Which had now been cleared of the orcs. "Elladan, Elrohir can you get me some water, athelas and bandages please?" Elrond asked, helping Estel sit down.
"Yes Ada," they replied, before going of to find the requested items.
Although Elrond was cutting the legging away from the wound very gently it didn't stop it from hurting as Estel found out as Elrond pulled the material away.
"I'm sorry Estel. I've nearly got it off," Elrond said, sympathetically as he felt Estel squirm slightly in pain.
After inspecting the wound carefully Elrond left Estel to go and find Elladan and Elrohir with the items he needed.
"Ada, was the blade poisoned?" Elrohir asked anxiously, handing the bandages and athelas to Elrond.
"No, don't worry," Elrond said, walking back to Estel.
He put down what he was holding and said to Estel, "This will probably sting a little bit but not for long. Although after all the times I've had to patch you up, you should know it's not usually painless," he added.
"You haven't had to patch me up that much Ada," Estel said, forgetting about the pain in his leg.
"Really?" Elrond asked, raising an eyebrow in question. "Ready?" he asked, dipping the cloth into the water.
Estel nodded.
Elrond started wiping the dirt and things away from the wound but glanced quickly at the twins when Estel whimpered in pain.
Estel, noticing Elrond had stopped, said, "I'm alright Ada, carry on."
Elrond smiled gently at him and carried on.
When Elrond started again Estel felt a hand on either shoulder squeezing gently to take his mind of his leg.
"You know, you're getting quite good with a sword," Elrohir said in his ear. "I saw you kill quite a few orcs."
"There you go," Elrond said, standing up. "Elladan, can you come with me please?"
After they left Elrohir asked, "Are you alright Estel?" because he noticed how pale the boy was.
"I'm fine thanks 'Ro. Just tired."
Shortly Elrond and Elladan came back, holding two bowls of soup and some bread each. Elladan handed one of them to Elrohir, who accepted it gladly. When Elrond offered a bowl to Estel he declined saying, "No thank you Ada."
"Estel, you've had a tiring day and you need to eat something," Elrond said, kneeling down in front of him.
"I'm sorry Ada but I'm just not hungry," Estel said, looking away.
"Are you feeling ok?" Elrond asked, feeling Estel's forehead.
"I'm just tired," he replied, looking back at him.
"Rest then. We'll be heading home shortly. But Estel promise me you'll have something to eat when we get home," Elrond said firmly.
"I promise."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
When they arrived and all the other elves had gone to do different things Estel saw a figure approaching.
"Hi Naneth," he called.
"Hello. Did you have a nice day?" Gilraen asked.
"Yes, thank you."
"Are you alright?" she asked, noticing how he was leaning slightly on Elladan, then her eyes landed on his leg. "What happened to your leg?"
"Um.well," he said, looking at Elrond for help.
"I tell you what. Why don't you three go and clean up for dinner and I'll tell Gilraen what happened," Elrond suggested, seeing how uncomfortable Estel was, thinking about the day's events.
"Ok," they replied, before heading inside.
"What happened?" Gilraen asked.
"Well after we had finished hunting we were attacked by orcs and Estel got a bit hurt. It wasn't poisoned, he'll just be a bit sore for a while. Shall we go and have some dinner?"
"Yes."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Elrond was glad when he saw that Estel was eating properly. He did notice something different about him though. His conversation with Elladan and Elrohir was missing his usual spark. But Elrond reminded himself that for a thirteen year old boy, today must have been a very tiring day.
When they had finished eating Estel said, "I'm going to go to bed if you don't mind."
"Of course we don't," Gilraen said walking over to him. "Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm fine, just tired."
"I'll see you in the morning," she said, kissing him gently.
"Estel," Elrond said. "I'll come up in a minute to have a look at your leg."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
When Elrond entered Estel's room he saw Estel lying in bed with a slight grimace on his face.
"How's you're leg?" he asked, setting the cream and spare bandages down.
"It hurts a bit," Estel replied, moving the duvet so Elrond could see it.
Elrond unwrapped the bandage and started to spread the cream over the wound. He felt Estel flinch when he started but he smiled when he felt him relax.
"Thank you, Ada," Estel said when he had finished.
"Your welcome," he replied, pulling the duvet back over him. "Good night."
"Night," Estel said, through a yawn.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
As Elrond was on his way outside for some fresh air during the night he heard someone moving in Estel's room. Next minute he heard what sounded like someone being sick.
He rushed in to find Estel being sick over the toilet. He ran over to him and put one arm round him to comfort him while the other hand went up to his forehead. Well he didn't have a temperature.
"Have you been up all night?" he asked, handing Estel a glass of water.
"Not all night. When I manage to fall asleep I get woken up by bad dreams," he admitted, knowing how childish that sounded.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Elrond said, kindly. "Would you like to tell me about the dreams?"
"Not really," he said sitting back down. "Well first I was just being chased by orcs but in the last one they caught me and made me watch as they. as they killed you, Naneth, 'Dan and 'Ro. I know it was only a dream but it was so real. I can't go back to sleep tonight," he said, looking pleadingly at Elrond.
"I'll be back in a minute," Elrond said, standing up.
Five minutes later he returned with a beaker. "You know when we had some soup in the woods today why didn't you want some?" he asked.
"Because I wasn't hungry and because it made me rather uncomfortable sitting in that clearing in case more orcs came," he replied.
"You should of said something and we would of waited until we got home to have anything to eat," Elrond said, handing him the beaker. "Here drink this. It'll give you dreamless sleep."
"Thank you," Estel said gratefully, before drinking it quickly.
After handing the beaker back to Elrond he made his way slightly unsteadily back into bed. Elrond covered him with the duvet and watched as he fell asleep before making his way outside.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
When Elrond woke up he went into Estel's room to see how he was. As he had expected the boy was sound asleep.
Just as he was leaving Estel's room Elladan and Elrohir bounded up to him saying, "Ada is Estel awake?" rather noisily.
"Shh," Elrond said, opening the door so they could see the sleeping form of their brother.
"He really should be awake by now though," Elrohir said.
"He had a hard night. Let him sleep," Elrond said, closing the door.
"What do you mean he had a hard night? Was his leg troubling him? Elladan asked.
"No he kept on having nightmares about orcs. And the last one was so bad it made him sick. I gave him something for dreamless sleep. Come on lets go and get some breakfast."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Just as everyone was finishing breakfast a very sleepy looking Estel came in.
"Morning everyone," he said, helping himself to some toast.
"Morning. How are you feeling?" Elrond asked, offering him a glass of milk.
"Thank you," he said, taking the glass. "I'm alright. Thank you for last night Ada."
"Remember if you ever have trouble sleeping tell me ok," Elrond said quietly. so only Estel could here.
"I will."
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Please review.