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Chapter one

The wind howled around the barren trees, making those present shiver. It was cold and wet. It was the last month of the year and the lack of leaves on the trees only made the area look more forlorn than ever.

Rain fell in icy sheets, drops were picked up every now and then and the wind threw them around like mini projectiles.

It was most certainly not the perfect day to be out in. The Patrol, who was on their way back to Rivendell, had all agreed that they needed to find shelter and fast.

This winter had been hard, with autumn falling earlier than ever and ending almost as soon as it had started. Snow had fallen early, covering the world with its beauty. Thankfully the rain had seen to that snow fall. The rain was icy enough to make one think that snow would be falling once again all too soon.

The small group made its way through this rain with heads down and ears stretched in case of ambush. Luckily there was a cave nearby that was used for just this emergency. The cave held provisions of dry foods and wood so that they could make a fire.

Soon the small area was alive with the crackle of fire and light. Chatter soon filled the air as the Elves settled in for the night. One look at the sky was enough to tell them that the rain was in for the remainder of the day. Even though it was only mid afternoon, it could easily be mistaken for night, it was that dark.

It had been decided by the patrol leader, Calenthol that they would take no chances and have watches over night. He also set out patrols to stake out the surrounding area. You could never be too careful after all.

His Elves ribbed him good naturedly about his being so careful, although deep down not one of them would be arguing with him. After all the tales that had come from Mirkwood only brought home how true Calenthol's feelings were.

They had all heard the rumours and to find out that they were true, well it was still hard to believe. The Mirkwood Queen had been riding with her guards and young son when they had been set upon by a group of Orcs and Warg's. The Queen and her guards had all been killed, only the small Prince had survived and he had been so badly injured that it had been a month before he had been out of danger of dieing.

Their own Lord, Elrond had been badly affected by this as he was old friends with the King and knew his wife well.

That had been in the summer and very little had been heard from Mirkwood since then. And who could blame them, it was always hard when an immortal died, but for it to be your Queen? No, Mirkwood was in deep morning, it would be some time before the normally merry Silvan Wood Elves returned to normal, if they could return to normal after such a tragedy.

At least the small Prince survived, there were so few Elfling's being born that they were coveted and loved beyond belief as a true miracle.

The patrol came back with nothing to report and they settled back for a while to relax and talk about their own families.

They did not notice when the world became silent and instead of rain, snow began to fall.

When Calenthol led his own partner out to scout around it was to a world that would look like magic if you were an Elfling.

It looked beautiful, the trees where they had barren before were now burdened with snow and bending with the weight. The forest was still and you could have heard a pin being dropped. The wind had also dropped some what.

Animal tracks could be seen in the snow. The small prints if mice and squirrels as they moved about their business. Calenthol looked up to find him self looking at a bright red Robin his chest puffed up to keep him warm. He loved this time of the year; ever since he was an Elfling snow had been special. It had never ceased to be anything else.

He looked back to the ground and noted the slight foot print that rested atop the snow. He took no notice; all Elves could walk on snow. It was perhaps ten minutes later that he realised that the print was too small to be one of his men. It also showed a toe print clearly, who on earth would be out in this while not wearing shoes?

Calenthol quickly gestured to Fenelarion to be on the alert and they followed the tracks. They led to a small copse of evergreens and disappeared into the bushes. Without a word Calenthol crouched down and followed the prints. What he saw took his breath away.

In front of him was a small child of about five. His hair was knotted into tight burrs and was a dirty brown that came to below his shoulders. The clothes he wore had been fine at some point, but now they were tattered and torn, they were also filthy and sopping wet.

His feet and legs were bare and very blue as well as scratched and bruised. Big wide fearful blue eyes looked at him. His heart stopped, he had never seen such blue eyes before. The child was shivering violently.

"Hello, my name is Calenthol may I ask what yours is?" He got no reply.

"You must have a name?" Again there was no response. "Are you hungry?"

This time he was rewarded with a slight nod although the eyes never left his.

"We are staying in a cave that is nearby that has a fire and is warm, would you like to come with us?" Another nod and he carefully picked the small child up, noting at the same time that he was far too light for one of his age and he was stiff in his arms. Whispering reassurances he left the safety of the bushes and rejoined Fenelarion. The others surprise would have been funny if he was not so worried about the small child in his arms.

"He is wet, cold and very frightened. We need to get him back to the cave." At the others nod he removed his cape and wrapped the small figure. It took ten minutes to get back to the cave and not once did the small child speak.

The others were as surprised as Fenelarion had been. But they soon began to arrange things so that the child was soon sitting by the fire.

Hot tea was being prepared as Calenthol stripped the small figure from the sodden rags that he wore. He had to bite his lips to stop the swear words that he so wanted to say as he took in the small body.

The child had been beaten and badly at that. His white back was a mass of welts, some that appeared to be healing and some that had healed. He was also covered in bruises in various states of healing.

"Fenelarion, could you mix some athelas for me? This mite needs to have his wounds tended to." He held the others eyes for a minute before the other nodded and set about doing as he was asked. Within minutes the fresh smell permeated the cave.

He used warm water mixed with the herb to clean the thin back. He could count every one of the little one's ribs.

When he turned his attention to the child's chest he realised that it was in the same condition as his back. When he began to clean the rib area the child pulled away with a hiss of pain. Calenthol stopped what he was doing; once he had clamed once more he kept eye contact with the child, trying not to cause him further fear.

It was as he feared. The ribs were badly bruised and at least three maybe four of them were broken. "It is alright, you have no need to fear me. I am going to wash your chest and tummy and then I will bind your ribs, they will feel much better. Will you let me do that?"

The child nodded with apprehension clear on his dirty face. It did not take long; even the little one's wrists were badly bruised as if he had been held forcibly held. Calenthol felt his anger rising at the thought of another doing this to a child. Once they had been treated and bandaged he wrapped him up tight in a warm blanket.

He then turned his attention to the thin pale face. It was the matter of a minutes work to clean it and to reveal the bruises that vied for attention. There were so many of them that he could not tell where on stopped and another started. He gently brushed that matted hair away from the little face only to stop in shock once more. The simple action revealed one startling new piece of evidence. This child was not human as he had initially thought; he was an Elf as evidenced by the delicate pointed ear.

He managed to hide his shock as he continued to wash the pale face. "There, now that we can see you properly you must be very hungry?"

The dark head nodded. Soon he was eating, if you could call it that, for the Elfling was stuffing his face as if he had not seen food in a very long time. It was heart breaking to watch. Each grubby hand held a piece of dried fruit and on his lap he had rested the piece of bread he had just been handed. It took some time for him to finish and Calenthol was worried that maybe it would be too much for the tiny stomach to take, but before long the Elfling was sitting with his back resting lightly on the older Elf.

Replete the Elfling was ready to drift off to sleep; before he could Calenthol broke the silence.

"Can you tell me your name?" He ruffled the filthy hair.

"No know." The voice was quiet and difficult to hear.

"Do you know where you are from and why you here all alone?" All Calenthol received was a shake of the head.

"Well, in the morning we will take you to Imladris, Lord Elrond will be able to help you. Your Naneth and Adar must be very worried about you." The little head tilted to one side, confused.

"Never mind sleep, Penneth." The Elfling needed no further bidding and laden eyes lost their focus as he drifted off to sleep.

"Who do you think he is?" Fenelarion asked quietly.

"I do not know. I am sure that Lord Elrond will be able to help him. We will leave at first light. The sooner we get this little One to Imladris the happier I will be."

Silence soon fell as those not on guard duty bedded down.

Morning came with the silence that always follows a heavy snow fall. The morning was bright, even though snow still fell lazily.

Inside the small cave the Elves were going about there morning business. Calenthol was trying his best to urge the Elfling to eat the porridge that they had prepared from their provisions; Elrond always insisted that they carry extra in case of emergency.

"There you are, Penneth eat it all up it will put hairs on your chest." He had to smile as the Elfling went from being confused at the name to being worried. He looked down at his covered chest, only to look up as Calenthol laughed.

"I am joking, little One it is good for you though and will help to keep you warm as we are moving." He watched as the meal disappeared with alacrity and soon they were ready to begin their trip back to their home.

Calenthol wrapped the small Elfling in two thick blankets making sure that the small feet were safely covered and protected. They left the safety of the cave behind and made for the Elven realm that was their home.

The Elfling's eyes were wide as he took in the change to the world around him. He had never seen this; at least he did not think so. He could not remember.

Calenthol smiled at the precious bundle in his arms. "It looks pretty does it not?" A small nod was his answer as the Elfling continued to look around in awe. "When you are able I will play with you in the snow and show you just how fun it can be."

Wide, innocent blue eyes turned to him with a mixture of wariness and amazement. It was then that the Elf decided that if Lord Elrond could not help the Elfling find his parents, he and his wife would foster him. His heart was already lost to that small Elfling and he wanted nothing more than to wipe that look of fright and wariness from that adorable little face.

It was mid morning and they were just about to reach the gates of Imladris when a shout from behind them brought them up short. Turning they welcomed the three beings that were riding towards them.

"Calenthol, Ada was worried that you may have been taken by surprise at the severity of the storm last night. We have been looking for since the morning meal." The speaker was a tall slender Elf with long dark hair that was pulled back off of his face in the braids of his family. Beside him was another Elf who was identical in everyway. Beside them was a human, his long hair loose and unrestrained in the slight wind, his grey eyes sparkling with amusement as he took everything in.

These were Lord Elrond's children; the Elves were Elladan and Elrohir, twin brothers. The human was their foster brother, Estel. Although most Elves were unaware of it, Estel was in fact Aragorn son of Arathorn, heir to the throne of Gondor.

"We stopped for the night at one of the safe caves, when the rain became too hard to continue in." Calenthol smiled at his old friends.

"What is that you have there?" Elrohir had noted that the other Elf held something in his arms.

"It is a small Elfling who we found last night, after we had taken shelter." The Elfling was once more rigid in his arms.

"Who is he?" Estel asked as the three of them dismounted and hurried to their friend's side.

"I know not and he cannot tell me." His voice was sad.

"Amnesia?" Estel's voice was shocked.

"Yes, I think so. He has been badly beaten and starved; I was taking him to Lord Elrond." He tried to turn the Elfling so that the newcomers could see him, but the little One fought against him. It suddenly dawned on them that he was sacred of the new members of the party.

Estel gently spoke with the Elfling. "Hello, my name is Estel and I would like to get to know you." The bundle shivered.

"Come, look at me I mean you know harm and would like to help you." The tiny head turned and Estel had to hold his gasp of surprise in. He had never seen such beautiful blue eyes in an Elf before, all those that he had met thus far had been dark in colour, only three had grey and that was his father and brothers. Not even Glorfindel had eyes this bright. They were also scared.

"Would you like to see my horse? His name is Lightening as he goes so fast at times." He took the Elfling in his arms at the nod he received and crossed the clearing where his horse stood grazing with the others horses.

As they stopped at the horse's side a pale thin, bruised hand reached out to touch the animal and Estel noted the bruises that surrounded his wrist. Lightening neighed slightly and then snickered against the Elfling's hair causing him to laugh. It sounded magical even to the ears of the Elves around him and seemed to hang in the air even after he had stopped.

"Nice." Estel had to strain really hard to hear the Elfling speak.

"Yes, he is. Do you like him?" Estel could not help but smile.

A nod was his answer. "Would you like to ride him with me?" Estel could only hold his breath at asking this.

The nod was slow and very unsure.

Elrohir spoke with Calenthol. "Ride with me, it will help him if you are with us. We will stand horses back for your party."

Calenthol agreed with this as the Realm was only fifteen minutes away. Soon they were on there way.

In Imladris Elrond sighed with quiet frustration. The rain and then the snow fall of the previous day did not bode well. Already the Misty Mountain pass was closed. There would be no communication with Mirkwood for some time to come.

Five patrols had been caught out in the weather last night and it worried him, he protected Imladris with Vilya the ring he had been both blessed and cursed with, but even he could not prevent the snow from falling as it had.

He hated to send his son's out in this; snow was still falling although to a lesser degree. He could not stop them as they were all near to their majorities, but he could make sure that Estel had dressed warmly. He did not want his foster son to become ill.

A shout from the front gate made him put his quill back into its holder, the missive he had been writing to his mother in law forgotten as he made his way to the window, his heart thumping. If they were injured once more and in so short a time, they would be sorry. Trouble always seemed to follow those three around.

He watched as the three horses made their way through the gates. He checked that each of his son's were unhurt before taking in the fact that Calenthol was sitting with Elrohir, that was unusual to say the least. Then he noted that Estel was holding a small bundle in front of him.

Not waiting to see more, he made his way down to the door, he was met on the way by Glorfindel.

"What do you think it is this time?" The blond Balrog Slayer asked, amused.

"I do not know, we will soon find out." They stood in the door way as the small party came to a halt in front of them.

"Calenthol are you well?" He looked unharmed to Elrond's trained eyes.

The Elf bowed once he was back on terra firma. "Yes, Hir Nin. The patrol is unharmed; we took shelter for the night."

"Good, I am glad to hear that. Estel, what is that you are holding?" He turned to his youngest son.

It was Calenthol who answered him. "It is a small Elfling that we found last night in the storm, Hir Nin. He seems to have no recall."

"Let me see him." He reached out to take the Elfling from Estel, only to find that he would not let Estel go.

"He is very scared, Ada." Estel smiled at his father with apology.

"I can see that. Here, Little One I will not harm you. Would you like to come into the warm?"

Slowly the pale thin arms slackened their grip and Estel gave the Elfling to his father.

"Let me see who we have here." His breath caught as he took in the bruises that marred the fair features. He looked up at the others in shock noting their grim expressions.

"There are more, Hir Nin. I think, no I know he has been beaten."

"Come all of you, yes, even you Calenthol. I will need to speak with you." Elrond turned and began to walk to the door, where Glorfindel was still waiting. He opened his mouth to speak, when he felt the Elfling go completely rigid in his arms. Then he began to shake with fear.

Confused he looked back down at the Elfling. His eyes were wide and very, very frightened. His eyes would not leave Glorfindel's face as he tried to cower in the Elf Lord's arms.

"Elrond?" He was surprised at the Elfling's reaction.

"I do not know what is wrong. Calenthol have you seen him like this before?" Elrond turned to the patrol leader.

"No, Hir Nin he has been wary but not like this."

Glorfindel reached for the Elfling, trying to calm him. It had the opposite effect and the Elfling began to kick at him in panic before trying to bite the Elf's hand.

Glorfindel pulled back in shock. He turned to Elrond. "It is me, for some reason he is frightened by me."

To be continued

How is this as a surprise for you all? Another story. We hope you all like it, please let us know?

Some of you may know that this story was posted once before and in fact it was the first Shell and I worked on together but we have given it a complete new life and it is better than ever.

Love,

Mei and Shell