Disclaimer: See chapter 1
Authors Note(s): I just want to thank everyone for the kind reviews :). They are very encouraging.
Beta: The wonderful Nietta again.
Carry On My Wayward Son
Chapter 2
Death of Seasons
Estel was not happy. His Ada had informed him at breakfast that morning that it was nearly the end of summer, autumn is almost upon us, he had said. Estel knew exactly what that meant; a lot less sun and a lot more rain. In fact almost as if the weather was trying to prove a point it was raining now.
Estel miserably trudged after his brothers; they were on their way down to the training field to watch Glorfindel practice.
"Why do they have to do it in the rain?" Estel whined.
"Well, epic battles don't always take place in the merry sunshine Estel. They need to be prepared for any kind of weather, just like you will need to be when you become a warrior," Elrohir replied.
Estel didn't say anything back but continued to mumble and grumble under his breath. The twins shared a look and suppressed a smile.
On arriving at the field it appeared that quite a few elves had been put off by the rain, there seemed to only be about half the occupants there normally would. As always though, Glorfindel was in the centre of the field, swords in hand and taking on two elves at a time. Estel smiled but didn't do anything to attract his attention because he didn't want to distract the elf lord. Although Estel doubted that anything he could have done could have diverted the golden haired warrior's attention, he looked far too deep in concentration.
They stopped and turned to watch. Fighting not five metres away was Elrohir and Elladan's friend Lindor. He had spotted them and held up a hand to his opponent.
"Sorry but could you excuse me a minute," Estel heard him say. Lindor thanked his opponent before walking over to where the young boy and the twins were stood.
"Greetings sons of Elrond," he said with a small bow, "What brings you down here today?"
"I wanted to come and watch the fighting. I'm learning to use a sword myself now," Estel said with a happy grin.
"Ah I see," Lindor smiled warmly at Estel before directing his gaze at the twins, "You haven't done any practice yourselves since you have arrived home I've noticed."
"No," Elladan began somewhat regretfully, "Lord Elrond said we weren't to 'overexert' ourselves for a few days after he allowed us to leave the healing ward. Then he went straight on to informing us that training, among many other things, fell directly into that category."
"Well it's been a few days now hasn't it?" Lindor replied with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, "Spar with me."
The twins laughed.
"I'm afraid we are here with our dear brother now. Not for our own benefit," Elrohir said looking amused.
Lindor put his hands up in resignation, "All right then mellon nin. If you are too scared to spar with me now while your young charge watching, then maybe another day when you won't feel as embarrassed losing to me."
"You wish Lindor," Elladan laughed.
Lindor gave a mock bow, "Well my lords, I'm going to go and continue my practice over there, where the elves do not fear to face me."
Then with a smile he was off, leaving the two dark haired elves torn between amusement and exasperation. Estel didn't notice though as he watched Lindor exchange a few words with an elf and then promptly draw his sword. As the twins and Estel followed Lindor's fight, Glorfindel made his way over to them.
Estel was amazed by the skill that the elf was displaying and after only two minutes, Lindor knocked his opponent's sword from his hand.
"Good isn't he?" Glorfindel said from next to Estel.
"Yes! How did he win so fast?" Estel exclaimed in admiration.
"A lot of practice," Glorfindel said seriously.
Estel pondered this for a moment, "Have you had a lot of practice?"
"Absolutely, thousands and thousands of years worth of practice. I've had even more practice than your Ada, that's why I'm so superior to him," he replied with a small smirk that made Elladan and Elrohir roll their eyes.
"Whoa. You must be ancient then!"
Glorfindel's mouth fell open and the twins burst out laughing.
"Ancient indeed! Stop laughing at me you insolent elflings, I will tell your father and you won't be laughing then will you?"
Elladan and Elrohir ignored him and carried on laughing. Looking highly affronted, Glorfindel walked up the stone steps into weapon storage and slammed the door with bang.
"Oh that's it Glorfindel, talk about setting a good example for Estel. Slamming the door like the small elfling we have just established you most definitely are not," Elladan choked out through tears of laughter.
Glorfindel's head popped out from around the door, "I did not slam the door. I merely closed it…with authority."
Feeling awful, Estel said with widened eyes, "I'm sorry Glorfindel! I didn't mean it."
"That's all right Estel," Glorfindel said with a wink. He then turned around and went back into the room and quickly added, "I was only joking."
Elrohir rolled his eyes, "Estel why don't you go with Glorfindel and he can show you some of the swords?"
Estel nodded and ran over to catch up with the elf lord. He hurried up the wet stone steps. Oh no, he thought as he felt his foot land of the ground at an odd angle.
"Ah!" he shouted as his ankle twisted. He was falling but he couldn't stop himself. His knee crashed down on the edge of the hard stone and with a cry of pain he rolled down the steps and toppled down to the ground. The twins gasped in horror and ran over to where he had pushed himself into a sitting position and was trying to hold back tears.
"Estel! Are you all right!"
"Yes I'm fine," he gasped in reply, "It's just a few bruises and a scratch, I don't want to make a fuss."
"No Estel, that bleeding looks bad. Come on, we're taking you to Ada."
"No!"
Nearby elves were stopping what they were doing to watch. Estel felt awful, he was so embarrassed and he didn't want to cry in front of everyone.
"Estel, come on. We are going to Ada."
"No! I'm fine!"
Elrohir ignored him and picked him up, and together the two elves made their way to their fathers study cradling their younger brother in their arms.
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Estel flinched slightly as Elrond cleaned the cut on his knee with disinfectant. He was very unhappy with his brothers; they had carried him like a baby all the way to his Ada's office. They had then explained to Elrond what had happened except they made it sound as though it was his own fault for running! He was only trying to catch up with Glorfindel because they had told him too. It wasn't his fault the steps were slippery. Elrond had ignored Estel's angry protests though and simply told him to sit down because he was about to drip blood all over the carpet.
"This needs stitches," Elrond said straightening up, "Come on we'll need to go to the healing wards."
Again, Estel's protests that he was fine were ignored as his Ada led him from the room. Estel winced slightly as he shifted his weight onto his left foot. Elladan had forgotten to mention the fact that he'd hurt his ankle and Estel wasn't going remind him, but at the moment it was hurting terribly. It was only sprained though, Estel thought. He wouldn't have been able to walk at all if it had been twisted.
"Lie down," Elrond instructed when they arrived. Estel moved to the closest bed and lay down without argument; there was no point really as he'd eventually be made to do it anyway. He watched as Elrond bustled around the room looking for various herbs to numb the pain.
"I'll be back in a moment Estel, I need to go to the store room to get the salve I need to put on that ankle of yours," Elrond said without looking up. Estel almost laughed as Elrond left the room; trust Ada to have figured it out without being told.
In the room all Estel could hear was the pitter patter of raindrops splashing against the windows and with a sigh Estel rolled over on the bed to look out the window, however he overestimated the amount of space he had on the bed and with a crash fell to the ground, aggravating his already bruised body.
He yelled out in surprise and Elladan came rushing in, he must have been stood outside Estel though idly.
"What happened?" Elladan exclaimed.
Estel groaned, "I wanted to see if the view from the floor was better then from the bed… What the hell do you think happened!"
"I thought-" Elladan began angrily.
"I think it was a rhetorical question Elladan," Elrond interrupted from the doorway.
The dark haired elf frowned at his younger brother and then spun around and quickly exited the room.
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After being told by Fenneth that 'due to unforeseeable circumstances, it will take longer than we planned to acquire the land we need to begin building our new homes', the men were growing restless. Even murderers and thieves become weary of never-ending travel.
It was almost nightfall and Polinthor sat in the rain with his legs crossed considering what needed to be done; he would have to talk to Fenneth as soon as he got back from wherever it was he had disappeared off too. Polinthor looked around their campsite; tents were scattered seemingly randomly around the area. They were close enough to Rivendell for the trees to have started to thin out, allowing the travellers enough room to set up tents, but far enough away to be out of Rivendell's sight. It was a perfect spot.
The man shivered and pulled his earth worn cloak tighter around himself to try and fight off the growing cold. It was no use though; no matter what he did to prevent it, the chill still somehow seemed to seep through to his very bones, making him feel numb.
Some of the men had been off to steal more crops from the elves land that morning, and while Polinthor had had no objections at first, he just didn't think it was wise to continue. After his meeting with Elrond, he had no desire to invoke the Elf Lords wrath upon them.
He heard a rustle behind him and his head shot around. Fenneth strode through the trees towards him, his long black cloak flailing about in the howling wind.
"Where have you been?" Polinthor asked accusingly as Fenneth closed the distance between them.
"For a walk, not that it's any of your business," came Fenneth's sharp reply.
"We should leave; the men are growing restless and wish to move."
"No not yet."
"What do you mean? 'Not yet'?"
Fenneth didn't answer for a minute, "I mean, not yet. I don't think this visit will be a complete loss. We are staying here."
"But-"
"No buts! You will do as I tell you!"
They glared at each other for a moment. Then Polinthor looked away and stepped back. He knew when he was out ranked.
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Dinner was a very arduous affair. Estel sat and scowled at his food, occasionally pushing it around his plate. His Ada had made him stay in for the rest of the day for shouting at his brother and for 'causing a kerfuffle'.
"Estel don't play with your food," Elrond said sharply.
A heavy silence hung in the air but Estel was so unbelievably angry that he didn't even notice.
Elrohir cleared his throat in an attempt to cover up how uncomfortable he felt, "I was talking with one of Glorfindel's scouts earlier, there have been orc sightings by one of the near by villages."
Estel's ears pricked up.
"Is that so," replied his father.
"Yes. Elladan and I were thinking of going to check things out. See if the villagers are all right."
"I see," Elrond said slowly, "And are you going to be taking anyone with you? Or is this going to be another of your lone quests?"
Elrohir faltered, "Well we weren't going to take anyone with us, no."
"I'll go!" Estel cried out.
There was a short silence.
"You will do no such thing," Elladan said quietly.
"Why not?" Estel demanded.
"Because you are far too young of course."
"I'm not," he insisted. The conversation was gradually getting louder and louder.
"Yes you are Estel. You can't even use a sword yet."
"Only because you won't let me!"
"Enough," Elrond said loudly. The two brothers stopped mid-sentence but continued to stare at each other, "Estel, you are not going and that is final. Now can we please try and enjoy the rest of out meal?"
Estel didn't even hear the second part of his Ada's sentence. He threw his chair back and stormed out the room, "It's not fair!" he cried, "You never let me do anything!"
He ignored his brother's demands that he come back and carried on down the corridor. It wasn't fair! How dare they treat him like this! He was old enough to decide what he was and was not capable of doing, wasn't he? Now for example, he had decided he was capable of going to his room, and go to his room was exactly what he was going to do.
As he stormed through Rivendell, he could hear the pounding of the rain outside. Oh what fitting weather, he thought sardonically. A deafening clap of thunder made him jump.
Whilst the weather reflected his mood, Estel hated thunder storms. They inspired fear in him like nothing else he had ever seen. He suspected it had something to do with the fact that it was on a night exactly like this that his parents had both been brutally murdered right in front of his eyes. Estel shuddered as he tried to banish the disturbing mental images his mind was conjuring. When Estel had first been taken in by the elves he had endured nightmares about his parent's deaths every single night. As he had grown older they had become more and more infrequent. Thankfully, at nearly eleven years of age, the image of a man with an arrow protruding from his eye and a woman with a coarse dagger embedded in her back only plagued his dreams on nights like these.
Lightning flashed and the small boy suppressed a squeak as he ran into his room slamming the door behind him. His bedroom would have been pitch-black if it were not for the occasional flash of lightning and the eerie moonlight through his window from an infrequent break in the clouds. Luckily Estel knew his way around with his eyes closed. He got changed into his warmest pyjamas as quickly as his body would allow and threw himself into bed.
The thunder seemed to be getting louder so Estel pulled his blankets over his head to protect himself from the vicious storm. Through his makeshift material armour he heard the handle of his door turn and open quietly. A sudden soft light filled the room as Lord Elrond stepped gracefully through the doorway holding a candle. Estel could see his silhouette move closer to the bed and place the candle gently on his bedside table.
"Good night Estel. You know where I am if you need me ion nin."
Estel didn't move or give any recognition that he'd heard. He heard his Ada give an almost imperceptible small sigh before he turned around and silently left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
The injustice of it all welled up inside Estel, how dare Elrond come in here and make him feel guilty! He had done nothing wrong! It just wasn't fair.
It was at that point he decided what he wanted to do.
About fifteen minutes later he stood in front of his mirror, admiring himself by candlelight. He had dressed in the warmest clothes he possessed and donned his heavy leather boots. Estel walked across the room to where he had laid his bag to check he had everything he would need. Food, check. Water, check. Pocket knife given to him by Elladan for his last birthday, check. Extra blanket, check.
It was a foolproof plan, he would sneak out tonight and hide in the near by forest. He would live in the wild for a day or two; it should be easy enough. His Ada has fully healed all of his injuries from that morning as well so that wouldn't be an issue. Then when he came back to his family, they would absolutely, undeniably and irrefutably have to admit that he was quite capable of taking care of himself and they would stop smothering him. Estel had to smile at the ingenuity of his own brilliant scheme.
There was no way it would be late enough yet to leave as he wanted to wait until as many elves as possible were in bed so he could make an easy escape. So he sat down on his bed and waited.
To be continued…