Disclaimer: Still the same, nothing is mine, all Tolkien's and Co.

Word count: 2609/9116

AN: Now we finally get to the wolf part. As already mentioned I'm trying to make this as authentic as possible, wolf behavior and pedagogy wise. I read a few books about wolves for this story so I could put some right behaviour in. Still, as I never got to observe real wolves and all I know comes from books it's probably still wrong most of the time, even considering the fact that I adjusted his behavior a little due to the fact he still is no real wolf but an elf.

Chapter 5

Glorfindel raised his head when the low pitiful moans penetrated his mind, blinking sleepily towards the bed where the sounds where emanating from. For some moments he felt confused, wondering how late it was, why he was looking at his bed and had therefore apparently not spent the night in it but in the chair he was sitting in and who was making these distressed sounds.

He was awake in an instant when he managed to grasp the memory of the naked elf lying half dead in the cold snow and how he had brought him home. Quickly sitting up in his chair Glorfindel looked more closely at the bed. The elf was a shivering lump under the blankets, moaning quietly, a strange, deep sound that did not sound very elven.

For some time Glorfindel did not move and simply watched the elf, or rather the blanket, which was moving slightly from time to time, showing where the elf was resting under them. He swallowed hard, sitting up in his chair, trying to come up with an idea for how to best approach this situation. The usual rules clearly did not apply here, as there was no way of knowing how this elf would react.

"Hello," Glorfindel finally said after some time, very softly, as if talking to a frightened animal, which wasn't even that far away from the truth. But if the elf even heard him he did not show it in any way. When even after repeated callings he failed to show any reaction Glorfindel slowly rose from his chair, walking over to the bed. He wasn't even sure if he was awake or having a nightmare, as the elf was completely covered by the blanket, when he carefully extended a hand to gently touch a bulge under the blankets that seemed to be one of the elf's ankles.

The elf reacted instantly, throwing the blanket away from him and hurling himself at Glorfindel with a growling, dangerous sound. The blond managed to get away from the elf's snapping teeth just in time before they closed over his face, pressing against the wall as far away from the bed as possible.

With wide eyes Glorfindel stared at the feral creature that was now crouching on his bed, on all fours, pressed back against the headboard. The green eyes flashed dangerously and he growled loudly, lips pulled back over his teeth. Glorfindel could see how his body shook with the effort of sitting up and probably a violent fever, too, considering the elf's flushed face.

Glorfindel felt confused, not knowing what to do. The elf looked as if he would rip him into pieces if he moved as much as a finger, but he couldn't possibly stand there all day.

But the elf's behaviour confirmed one thing Glorfindel had already suspected: He acted nothing like an elf, more like a wolf, and Glorfindel absolutely wasn't sure how much elf there was left inside of him. He doubted it was very much, though. Any sane elf would not have stayed with a pack of wolves, but would have gone for help.

For a long time the blond and the black-haired elf just stared at each other, none daring to move, Glorfindel's gaze constantly travelling towards the door. Just now it seemed they would both starve or die of thirst before an end to this appeared. Very slowly and very carefully he made a tiny step towards the door. At once the elf's snarl, which had quietened to a soft growl almost sounding like a cat's purr, grew louder once more, filling the room with its threat.

Glorfindel instantly froze, not daring to move any further. Once more they both stood there, motionless, until suddenly the elf moved, sinking back down onto the mattress. He was panting heavily and Glorfindel could only imagine how exhausting and straining this situation needed to be for the elf. He desperately needed to lie down and sleep some more, but he doubted that he'd do so with him in the room.

Glorfindel made another step towards the door and as expected, the elf growled again, lips pulling back over his teeth as far as he could, but he remained lying on the bed. Glorfindel swallowed hard. This whole situation was going completely different then he had imagined. Even though he knew this elf had lived with wolves he somehow would have expected him to be slightly more… elven.

He was still considering if he should try to make another step and continue to move further towards the door or take the risk and run for it, when there was a knock on the door. Glorfindel's eyes widened in alarm when the elf on the bed rose on all fours once more, growling louder than ever before, eyes snapping towards the door. The door started to open and seeing the way the elf's attention was fixed on it and how he looked as if he was ready to attack at any further movement or sound Glorfindel did not lose any time and darted towards the door. The door had opened just enough to allow him to slip through when he reached it and he quickly pushed a surprised Elrond far away from the door, making him fall to the ground, before slamming the door shut behind him, just in time. An instant later he heard the elf hit the door, snarling and clawing.

Panting hard from the shock Glorfindel leaned against the door, holding it closed even though it was unlikely the elf inside knew what a door was not to talk about opening it.

Elrond had remained lying on the floor where he had ended up in Glorfindel's haste to get out of the room and was staring at the blond with big astonished eyes. "What on Arda happened in there?" he asked, his voice a mixture of utter confusion and worry.

"Well," Glorfindel started, trying to find words for what had occurred between him and the other elf. "I guess he really is a wolf."

Slowly Elrond rose from the floor, careful not to step on the hem of his robes and trip over them. "Did he try to attack you?" he asked his friend. He had quickly found his usual calm and resolution again and his voice now carried a warning tone.

"Erestor didn't mean any harm," Glorfindel quickly protected the elf he had come to think of as his charge as he noticed the hostile glance Elrond cast at the closed door.

Elrond arched an eyebrow and looked at his friend. "Erestor?"

Glorfindel blushed slightly as he realized what he had just said and shrugged uncertainly. "That's… what I have been calling him in my mind." He had no idea where this name came from, it had just been in his head one day, and he had stuck in his mind.

"It is a nice name," Elrond reassured him. "He might have been better off living with deer with a name like this, though." A small grin crossed the half elf's face, but he quickly grew serious again. "But… Still. Why did he attack you? Did you do anything to him?"

Glorfindel shook his head and opened his mouth to speak, but Elrond interrupted him.

"He might be dangerous." The half elf clearly was not comfortable saying this. "We do not know who he is and what happened to him. He might be a danger to everybody living here."

"He is not dangerous," Glorfindel stated firmly with a warning, protective tone in his voice. "Definitely not more than any real wolf would be. He is just frightened. He is hurt and sick; he woke up in a place he never saw before, where everything is strange to him, with someone sitting next to his bed. If he lived with wolves he probably learned to keep away from us. He just wants to protect himself." He looked back at the door, thinking. "Still, it might be better if I looked for a new home, for the time being."

Elrond looked slightly doubtful at these last words. "There's not much room left. Most of the families with houses out in the valley came here for the winter. I'd need to see if there are rooms left first."

Glorfindel shook his head, sighing quietly. "Don't worry about it. I'll find something." His gaze was fixed on the door, looking a little uncomfortable at the thought of leaving Erestor alone in his rooms. "Do you have a key? Mine is inside. I don't think he can open the door but… it might still be better to lock it."

Elrond nodded. "I'll get it." Leaving Glorfindel to guard the door he quickly vanished down the hallway to fetch the key to the blond's rooms.

Having successfully locked the door they left Erestor in peace for the time being, making their way to Elrond's office, where Glorfindel instantly collapsed into an armchair, still a little shaky from his almost encounter with Erestor's teeth.

Silently Elrond moved through the room, pouring a generous cup of miruvor for both of them. Leaning back against a shelf, he carefully looked at the blond elf. "Well. What do you want to do about him?"

Raking his hair, Glorfindel reached out to take his own miruvor with a shaky hand, taking a long sip. "I don't know," he finally admitted.

Elrond sighed. "This is a difficult situation, Glorfindel. I completely agree with you that he only acts this way because he is afraid and sick, but he still presents a danger for everybody trying to approach him. As the ruler of this valley I can't possibly tolerate such a threat."

"And what do you want to do instead?" Glorfindel spat, mildly surprised by the force of his words himself. "Kill him? Put him out into the woods once more?"

Elrond remained silent at this, looking down into his cup. For a long time neither Elrond nor Glorfindel spoke, both lost in their broodings.

"I realize that we can't simply throw him out," Elrond continued after some time, calmer now. "But this situation is still dangerous, for us as well as for him. He is not used to closed spaces and he could hurt himself in your room. Just imagine if he tried to escape through the balcony and ran against the glass…" He fell silent once more, moving a hand over his face, shaking his head. "I'd put a wolf outside in one of the dog cages, but... He is no wolf. We can't treat him like a stray dog. But we can't treat him like the elf he is, either." He sighed heavily. "I really don't know what to do about this, Glorfindel."

Taking a large sip of his miruvor to calm himself, Glorfindel looked at Elrond, desperately, silently. Once again both elves were lost in their broodings, trying to think of a way to solve this situation. "I'll take care of him" Glorfindel continued softly after what felt like hours. "If anything happens, it will be completely my fault."

Elrond shook his head. "No, my friend. I can't leave you alone with this. For one thing, you wouldn't even be able to take care of him all on your own. He'd never let you. Furthermore, if anything happened it would still be my mistake, because I gave the responsibility to you. Whatever we do about this, you can't do it alone." Sighing, he drained his glass. "I need to examine him once more, but in his current state I have no idea how to do this without getting attacked by him. We'd need to hold him down and force him to allow me to touch him. It would be horribly stressful for him."

Glorfindel nodded approvingly, putting his empty glass on the small table next to him. "He will be hungry."

Elrond looked up at him, not instantly understanding the relation to what he had just said. "Excuse me?"

"He will be hungry," Glorfindel repeated, "He is so skinny, he won't have eaten much in the past. And he certainly hasn't eaten anything since I brought him here. Couldn't you add something to his food to make him calm down? You do it like that with the animals if they're sick." He hated the thought of treating the sick elf like a wild animal, but at the moment there didn't seem to be another way if they wanted to make sure he survived.

"You're right," Elrond approved, rising from his chair. "I'll get some meat from the kitchen and prepare it. We can only hope that he isn't too sick to eat."

"Meat?" Glorfindel furrowed his brow. "Are you sure he will be able to eat it? Shouldn't we give him something light, like…" He trailed of, not quite able to think of anything they could possibly get Erestor to eat.

Elrond smiled at him, slightly amused. "Like chicken soup? I realize meat wouldn't be an appropriate diet for any other elf in his situation, but we can't forget that he apparently spent most of his life out in the woods." A shadow appeared on his face. "Do you remember when Celebrian returned after having been caught?"

Glorfindel nodded slowly, not able to answer. The capturing of her company and the loss of many lives was never easy to talk about. Too much grieve was connected with it.

"When they were finally rescued and returned to Rivendell… Most of the elves weren't able to eat anything else but water and bread, because that was what they had been given for months." Elrond took a deep breath, trying to chase away the dark memories and to concentrate on the matter at hand. "It is the same with Erestor. Wolves eat basically anything, but it is winter. There aren't many things but the flesh of dead animals out there to eat at the moment. Offering him anything else would probably cause digestive problems. And I don't think he needs those on top of his current situation. And it would be cruel to add to his fear and confusion by offering him food he possibly has never seen in his life. He might not even know it is edible."

Glorfindel nodded hesitantly. "You're words sound wise. I still don't like it. Having to treat him like some wild animal, not leaving him any choice on this matter…"

"I know." Elrond smiled at him in sympathy. "But the best thing is for him to rest and heal. He is frightened and exhausted, and sick as well."

"Still." Glorfindel pulled a face. It made him hurt when he thought about how Erestor must feel about all this.

"I'll get the food and try to find something we can slip him. There are not many herbs or healing draughts we could use. He'd smell or taste most of it and it would ruin every chance of him taking it." Leaving the room Elrond left Glorfindel to his thoughts.

AN: Small comment on that deer sentence: It the result of me (a long time ago) spending hours trying to find out what ‚Erestor' meaned, as Tolkien unfortunately never mentioned this. The only thing I came up with was 'brother of the deer'. It's completely wrong, because it requires false conjugation and mixing several elven languages, but the meaning somehow stuck and was one of the reasons I came up with this story. So I thought I'd put it in and give his name this meaning in this story, because if I don't I'll probably never get to used it because, like I said, it's completely wrong.