Elements of part one of this fic were inspired by MPbrennan's brilliant twoshot, "The Sound of Laughter." I am a thief and a terrible person and have nothing to say for this except that you should check out her work; it will be well worth your time.

Also, Middle-earth and the people in it belong to the Tolkien estate. I'm just borrowing.

The Forging, Part 1: First Lessons

TA 2936

Estel figured he was in trouble. Certainly with Elladan, probably with Elrohir—once Elladan finished telling him how Estel had run away—and then with Ada and Mama, too, when they found out.

Right now he was hiding, in the secret place beside the stairs up to the twins' room. Well, it wasn't a real secret place, like the hidden cupboard in Ada's study, which you couldn't see or find when the door was shut. It was just a space in the common room of the sleeping quarters, between the staircase and a bookshelf, small enough so that only Estel could fit, if he curled up so that his knees were beneath his chin. Probably, Estel could be seen, if someone looked down in just the right way. But no one ever did.

Just up the stairs, he could hear Elladan talking to Elrohir—and his voice wasn't exactly loud, but it carried, and his biting tone made Estel think he must be terribly angry. Estel didn't want to listen, but he caught bits and pieces: "…Past time to begin Estel's education..." Elladan was saying, "…couldn't start with the basics, oh no, had to jump right in deeper than he could touch…so used to being coddled…"

Estel gulped. Now he really wished he'd stayed at the training hollow and let 'Dan finish teaching him about swords. He just hadn't thought it'd be so boring. When the twins sparred with each other it was always so impressive, but Elladan said he had to learn the basics. Basics, Estel thought, were what grownups called things that were totally pointless. Estel had seen no reason why he had to put up with them.

"You're hardly trying at all," Elladan had said, coldly, after he showed Estel how to hold his sword the proper way, again. "I have absolutely no idea what has gotten into you, Estel, from how you're acting, I'd have thought you didn't want to be a warrior. You do, don't you?" At which point Estel had tried to tell him that he didn't want to be a warrior, he'd much rather be a dragon instead, and that had made Elladan really angry. He'd given Estel this look, and told him he was being ridiculous.

"The Valar know I tried to be patient!" Elladan was saying now. "But, Elbereth, I have my limits. Fact remains that between you, Adar, and all of his other favorites, Estel is completely undisciplined.

Then 'Ro was speaking, a little softer, a lot nicer. "Elladan, Estel had his fifth birthday last month. You do remember? I wouldn't use the words 'disciplined' and 'five year old' together in the same breath." There was a pause, and Elrohir added, "Brother, you've gotten yourself completely worked up. Go take a moment and sit down."

"I can't sit down! I need to find Estel, Eru knows where he's got to now…"

"Fair enough. But if you're going to carry on like this, you'll drive me and everyone else in this house insane. If you really do want someone to work with Estel, I'll go after him and see what I can do. And then," Elrohir's voice changed, like now he was making fun of Elladan, "perhaps you can finish this paperwork, which I've been working all morning on, while you and Estel have been cavorting."

A long pause. "I wouldn't exactly call it cavorting," 'Dan said. "And you promised to do the paperwork. But if you want to train Estel as well, I can only wish you the best of luck, because you'll need it. Oh, and did you know? The boy wants to be a dragon. That doesn't even make sense!"

"Elladan. As I said. Five years old." A door slammed, and Estel heard soft footsteps coming down the stairs. He hid his face and curled up as small as he could.

When he looked up, he saw Elladan's tall, slender form. His brother was looking at the bookshelf at the other end of the room and his back was to Estel. 'Dan found a book, took it out, and flipped pages. Then he hissed through his teeth and set it back on the bookshelf with a loud thump. Turning away, he went out through the door to the main courtyard.

Estel uncurled, just a little, but stayed where he was.

Not long afterward, more feet came down the stairs. Hugging himself, Estel rested his chin on his knees and watched to see who it was. All of the most important people in Rivendell lived in this part of the House, not just Estel's family, so it could be anyone.

It was Elrohir. Mama always got him confused with Elladan, but Estel thought it was really obvious who was who. Elladan had more freckles. Elrohir wore around his neck a cord with four beads on it. Once Estel had asked him what it was for. "So I remember some things," he'd said, and that was it, which was really confusing.

'Ro didn't go to the bookshelf, like Elladan had. He stood in the center of the room, arms crossed loosely over his chest, humming to himself, so Estel thought he might not be angry after all. Then he looked straight at Estel, and the humming stopped.

Estel felt his eyes widen. All Elrohir did was sit down on the carpet, cross-legged, elbows propped up on his knees. He began humming again.

There was a long, quiet moment, when both of them just sat there and looked at each other, Elrohir humming and giving Estel the sort of look that Mama gave when she knew that Estel really hadn't cleaned up his room this time, whatever he said.

At last, Estel couldn't stand it any longer. "Am I in trouble?" he asked.

"Perhaps with someone else, you are," said Elrohir. "But not, I think, with me. Unless you were the one who ate the last apple pastries from the batch from two days ago; they were quite excellent, only now they're all gone. Then we might have to have words." And while Estel sat frozen, trying to remember if he'd eaten all the pastries after all, Elrohir smiled and patted the space beside him. "Come. Sit."

Estel crawled over and sat on the carpet next to his brother. He liked the carpet. It was thick and soft and smelled like old wool, and was woven in an intricate red and gold pattern. Sometimes he brought his dragons (they were only wooden ones, unfortunately) down here to pretend they were sleeping on a hoard.

He leaned up against Elrohir, who extracted his arm from between them and settled it around Estel's shoulders, after messing up his hair first. "Well, small one," 'Ro said. Estel could feel his voice rumbling in his rib cage, as well as hear it. "What of your first day of lessons? Should I even ask?"

"Mmm," Estel grumbled. "I hate learning basics. And I hate Elladan, too.

"Fair enough. Days have gone by when I wished Elladan would take a fall from his horse. Into a pit of snakes. Why this particular hatred?"

Estel couldn't see much of 'Ro from this position, just the blue-gray material of his tunic, his crossed legs, and his other arm, hand resting on a knee. Around his wrist, Elrohir wore a band of silver set with turquoise, and this was what Estel fixed his gaze on. "He told me I was stupid for wanting to be a dragon," Estel said. He squirmed. "Dragons aren't stupid, 'Ro. They can breathe fire and fly places..." Flying was the most important part. If Estel could fly, he could go wherever and do whatever he wanted, and there wouldn't be parents, teachers, or brothers to make him do lessons or learn basics. He could see all the places he'd heard about in stories. Maybe if he flew far enough, he would get to the Undying Lands, where he could find his father (not Ada; he meant his other father) and find out why Mama never, ever talked about him.

"I think Elladan was confused," said Elrohir, "as to why you would want to be a dragon. Dragons are creatures of the Shadow, small one. They're… not very nice. Ask Glorfindel about them sometimes. He'll tell you stories."

Estel had heard all the stories. "There have to be nice ones somewhere," he said doggedly.

"Mm. Perhaps." Elrohir paused and sighed. The fingers of his free hand tapped against his knee. "That's why you ran away, then? Arguing with Elladan about dragons?"

"No. I ran off because he just got so angry about it." Estel twisted away from 'Ro, just a bit, so he could look up at his brother. "Have you seen 'Dan when he's angry? He scares me." It wasn't that Elladan yelled at Estel, like Mama did sometimes. It was the way he talked, and the look in his eyes, that made Estel feel small and stupid.

"I have seen him," said Elrohir, "and, possibly, if I gave myself the time to think on it, he would frighten me, too. However. Elladan is an issue unto himself and if we're going to fix him today we'll have to be clever about it. As for you, Estel…" Elrohir gave him a sudden poke in the ribs. It tickled, and Estel pushed away, laughing. He curled up in a ball a few feet away and looked up into his brother's familiar face-straight nose, thick black hair, the sort of smile that made Estel want to smile, too.

"Even if you're a warrior like Elladan and me," said Elrohir, "and even if you're a dragon... you're going to find things that scare you. Very well. There's never any shame in being afraid. But the things you're afraid of, you shouldn't run from. You meet them, head-on."

'Ro dealt with Elladan in quite a different way.

He and Estel left the common room together and went out to the courtyard. As they went, Elrohir told Estel, for the first time, about the goblin game.

The goblin game, Elrohir explained, was a finding game. "So," he said, "There are three of us, at least. One of us is called the goblin, and the only rule is that the other two must find the goblin before he finds them first. Today, Elladan will be our goblin. That makes you and me the ones to go after him."

"Oh," said Estel. "What happens after we find him?"

Elrohir smiled, as if he were planning trouble. A strip of hair had come loose and he shook it out of his face. "Then, as I understand it, we shall teach him to be a bit more patient with his younger brother."

Estel nodded at this and took Elrohir's hand, the one with the silver bracelet. He wondered if this was a good idea. If 'Dan was still angry with him, he thought he should stay out of his brother's way. Then again, Elrohir was here, he was on Estel's side, and he knew how to deal with grownups. Estel decided he'd try to be brave, for 'Ro.

They looked around the House first, starting in the kitchens and working their way outward. Estel enjoyed being sneaky, slipping through all the hidden pathways around the grounds that only he knew about. Or so he thought; it turned out that Elrohir remembered most of them from when he'd been Estel's size, and even knew of a few that Estel didn't. Of course, he couldn't fit in all the places that Estel could fit, being so much bigger, but he made up for it by showing Estel the path behind the rhododendrons, and by giving Estel a boost up the tree outside Mama's room, so he could climb up to her balcony.

Mama had not been expecting them to come up that way and was startled. When they tried to ask her if she'd seen Elladan, she only said she hoped they didn't kill themselves with stunts like that.

They went into the woods, where Elrohir taught Estel how to guess the age of footprints, and where Estel beat his brother in a race back to the river. (Though to be fair, he'd made 'Ro give him a head start.) Then it was a visit to the armory to look at swords that were as long as Estel was tall, and a climb up the tower to see the valley spread out beneath them, the mountains sharp and white in the east, and the hills rising and falling all around.

Elladan, they eventually found near the stables. Estel had been following Elrohir around the corner, coming up to the outer courtyard, when 'Ro suddenly stopped and put out his hand. "Ah," said Elrohir. "And so we have our goblin." So Estel crept up, peered around Elrohir's long legs, and saw 'Dan talking to Telthon, the man in charge of the stables.

'Ro leaned up against the wall and grinned again. "Wait until he's alone again," he said, and Estel nodded. "Would you like to do the honors or shall I?"

"You can go first," whispered Estel. Looking down at his sandals, he shifted his weight onto his right foot. 'Dan and Telthon were still talking about things Estel didn't understand and didn't particularly care about. He wanted, just a little bit, for them to stay that way.

When Telthon went back into the stable and Elladan went down the path between the building and the corral, Elrohir had Estel wait a few minutes before they followed their brother. Estel tried to walk quietly, which was fairly easy since the area around the corral was all unpaved. A few paces from Elladan, who had yet to look back or notice them, and Elrohir signalled again for Estel to stop. Then, Elrohir, who looked like he was having at least as much fun as Estel, sprinted the last few steps, caught Elladan from behind, and threw him to the ground.

Elladan said one of the words that Estel wasn't allowed to say, and twisted as he fell so that he landed on his back. As he did, he hooked an arm around Elrohir's neck, preventing him from getting back to his feet. The two were really fighting then, 'Ro scrambling to escape from Elladan's chokehold, though it couldn't have been too bad since Elrohir was also laughing uncontrollably.

Estel came close to the twins, and stopped. He wasn't sure if he wanted to join in their wrestling. The twins were a lot bigger than him, and besides, he still didn't want much to do with Elladan.

Elrohir yelped and said a bad word. "Don't kill me!" he added, choking on his laughter. "Estel was in on it too!" His hand shot out. Estel tried to avoid him, but Elrohir grabbed his ankle anyway and pulled Estel, who shrieked, down on top of them both.

All three of them ended up sitting in the dirt, covered in dirt. Estel had scrambled a safe distance away and sat there giggling. Elrohir was still laughing as though he would never stop, his face hidden in his hands, hair coming out of his braid. Elladan sat a few feet nearby, smiling broadly, undoing his own long dark braid, running his hands through his hair, and doing it up again.

"Resurrecting our old game, I see," said 'Dan. His eyebrows shot upward. "Hm."

"Well, yes," Elrohir said through his hands. "Estel and I were having a small discussion about your training methods. We agreed that you were a terrible teacher who deserved to be kicked repeatedly, and I thought we should show you better."

Elladan rose. "Thinking is a dangerous and complicated ordeal which requires practice to perfect and possibly a spark of innate talent. Performed with an untrained mind, it can cause stress, fatigue, and horrible cramps the next day." He nudged Elrohir with a toe. "I never want to see you do it again.

"Yes, brother, but it was worth it just to see the look on your face.

'Dan turned to Estel, looking him over with cool gray eyes, and Estel stopped giggling and hugged himself. Maybe he was still in trouble, and now he was finally going to be told off. "Well, Estel, you scared me." he said. "You and Elrohir. How long did he have you after me?" A pause, another look that Estel didn't understand. "Perhaps you can be so brave and clever as that when I'm trying to teach you swordwork?"

Estel looked at his brother's boots. He had no idea now whether Elladan was still angry or not.

But Elladan knelt down and messed up Estel's hair. Then he extended a hand and helped Estel up. "And perhaps we can learn from each other," he added, softly.

"I'm sorry I ran away," Estel said to his sandals. "I promise I won't do it again." He thought about apologizing about wanting to be a dragon, but didn't.

"Apology accepted," said Elladan. He laughed, the best sound Estel had heard all day.

They all continued up the path, past the stables, across the courtyard, back to the main house. As they walked, Estel ran ahead, and the twins dropped back.

They talked together in Quenya, which Estel didn't understand, and which people used whenever they wanted to talk about things they didn't want Estel to hear. He bounded up the steps to the entrance and stood there, waiting for the twins, wondering what they were saying to each other.

Elladan looked up, and told Estel (in Sindarin) to run ahead and see if dinner was ready, as it was getting close to time. So Estel skipped ahead, mysterious conversations forgotten.

It was a glorious day, Estel's brothers were happy with him, and he had food waiting. All was right with the world.

To be continued.

Adar, Ada: Sindarin for father. 'Ada' is more informal, it pretty much means 'Dad'.

Dan, Ro: I realize that elves typically don't shorten their names. These here are stupid nicknames that Small Estel made up for his brothers and which they tolerate for a while.

"First Lessons" is part one of a series of three onsets focusing on Aragorn/Estel's education and training. As the fic progresses, Estel will age and the tone and content will become increasingly more mature. There will be nothing too extreme, but part three will deserve its T rating.

Part two will be up presently.