Lord Elrond stood in front of the fireplace, hands clasped behind his back and utterly devoid of movement. He was so still, in fact, that the three sodden figures dripping on the floor behind him went from staring fixedly at the floor to exchanging worried glances, wondering if their father had actually turned to stone. Estel opened his mouth then immediately changed his mind. Elrohir elbowed his twin in the side and received an answering smack to the back of the head. Eventually, under the combined stares of his older brothers, Estel gently cleared his throat. The elf lord whipped around.

"You," Elrond said very slowly. "Are all idiots. What are two things we can say for sure about Legolas?"

"He has amazing hair?"

"He keeps clean?"

"He shoots well?"

"Exactly, he is proud and he hates caves."

"None of us said that, ada."

"Therefore, my sons, it only makes logical sense that you challenge his honour and bravery by telling him to go inside a cave on his own."

"How is that logical?"

"Shut up, Estel. He is being sarcastic rather than yelling at us. It is his defence against stupidity."

"Then why, by all things good and sane in all of Arda, would you leave him alone in there?"

The three exchanged glances again, shuffling uncomfortably.

"It wasn't exactly planned," Elrohir mumbled after it was clear that the other two weren't going to say anything.

Elrond's eyes bored into his sons. "How long has he been in there alone?"

"Uh…" Estel did a quick calculation in his head. "Half a day?"

"Right," Elrond said briskly, striding past his sons and out the door of his study.

The sons exchanged worried looks and hastened after him. They follow him – at a safe distance – down the hall, watching him pick up several guards along the way. They made their way outside and through much of the way to the caves in absolute silence. At one point, Glorfindel fell into step beside the brothers, giving them all a questioning look, but even he seemed reluctant to break the eerie calm that seemed to have fallen around the Lord of Rivendell. From his position just behind Elrond, Erestor was also routinely turning around to raise an eyebrow at the procession. Eventually, Estel could take no more.

"We lost Legolas," he hissed at Glorfindel.

"Again?" the elf exclaimed, making no attempts at lowering his voice.

"We didn't lose him – we know exactly where he is," Elladan argued. "He's just a little…inaccessible."

"We trapped him in a cave via very large rocks," Elrohir helpfully clarified.

"Again?" Erestor hissed at them over his shoulder.

"I feel as though we are accumulating an unjust reputation," Elladan observed flatly.

"This kind of thing didn't happen before Estel," Elrohir mused.

"Untrue," Glorfindel muttered, eyeing Elrond's increasingly stiff form.

Eventually they came to the mouth of the expansive cave system. The end of the tunnel had collapsed, blocking their access with stones larger than the elves were tall. Once again, Elrond stopped with his back facing his sons. It took a long, long time for him to turn around.

"I am impressed," he said, very calmly.

"It was Estel's fault," Elrohir muttered, and the human subtly stomped on his foot.

"You three begin working the rocks and see if you can gain access to the cave," Elrond instructed some of the guards. "Glorfindel, you scout the nearby tunnels, see if there's a way to find him there. Erestor, you've brought the maps of the tunnels?"

The twins and Estel watched as the entirety of the procession outside of themselves were given tasks. They could guess that they had been intentionally excluded, and the question lay in what they were supposed to do about it. Eventually, Elladan spoke up.

"The tunnel to the west is inaccessible," he interrupted Elrond and Erestor. "We, uh…we tried that one already."

He gestured to the still-dripping clothing of himself and his brothers. Elrond nodded and returned to the map while Erestor looked mildly alarmed.

"Naturally I worry for his emotional state," Elrond was saying to his advisor. "But I also worry about what he may encounter in there. This cave system extends far in most direction, and there is no telling what foul creatures may have made their way into their depths."

Estel shared a look with his brothers. They had already been wracked with guilt for trapping their friend in an environment which he loathed – they hadn't thought that he might actually be in danger. Almost simultaneously, they began slowly stepping backwards until they had put a few trees between themselves and Elrond before turning and disappearing into the forest.

"We know the closest tunnel to the west is no good," Elrohir whispered as they ran. "But what about that one in the ravine?"

"Worth a shot," Elladan agreed and ran even faster.

Meanwhile, having examined the map of the cave and come up with the best possible plan, Elrond turned around to instruct his sons on the quickest, most logical way of retrieving their friend. Instead, he was met with an endless wall of trees. He closed his eyes and said something rather uncomplimentary in dwarfish.

The three brothers arrived in the ravine to find that, indeed, the tunnel was open. They quickly gathered together enough wood for a torch and entered into the gloomy depths. They knew so long as they kept left, they would at least be in the vicinity of where they left Legolas, and it would also be easier to find their way out again. Their eyes slowly adjusted to the low light and the pressed on, weapons drawn, looking for any signs of life.

Glorfindel discovered a small, narrow gap between two rocks, just small enough to squeeze through. It wasn't much, but it was enough. He made note of his surroundings then wormed his way through the rocks, landing in a small, dark passage.

After several attempts, the largest boulder blocking the majority of the cave entrance. Elrond nodded at the guards and instructed two of them to wait outside while he, Erestor, and the rest entered the cave system. With the map in hand, Erestor had planned the most logical system of checking all the possible tunnels in the area, trusting that at least Legolas would not have strayed too far.

Estel had taken up the head of their small procession, worry for his friend making him snappish. They had followed this one tunnel for what felt like an age but there had been no sign of their friend, and no way to indicate whether or not they would ever reach the area where they left him in this labyrinth. As time passed, Estel began to mumble, swears and oaths and general grumpiness. Elladan and Elrohir made sure to give their younger brother plenty of room to breathe. That was why they didn't see the edge of the cliff coming.

Glorfindel huffed. This was…less than ideal. He wriggled a bit more, but no, he was well and truly stuck. A few possibilities flashed through his mind. So long as no foul beasts lurked within the depths of these tunnels, all he had to do was wait. After a few months, surely he would be thin enough to wriggle free? Or maybe that was unnecessary? Hopefully with all the other parties searching the cave system, someone was bound to stumble on him sooner or later! At least Elrond was heading the party. The Lord of Rivendell would know what to do.

"Uh…" Erestor said helpfully, consulting his map once more.

Elrond tried not to look too incredulous. "You said that the other tunnel had to join with this one – that there was no other possible way it could go. So, tell me: where are the guards?"

Erestor had no answer as they looked around the large chamber of the system, with tunnels leading off in all directions. The guards were supposed to have reappeared long ago, too long for simple dawdling. At least they knew which tunnel led back to the outside world…right?

Estel gasped, trying to force air back into his lungs. Dozens of sharp rocks dug into his back, though he was relatively sure that none of them had punctured anything. He was vaguely aware of his brothers calling out to him, asking if he was alright. The answer to that question was complex. After a few tries, he wheezed out something approaching words. One of the twins swore and soon they were both jumping down the cliff face, careful not to shower their brother with debris from the loose rocks. They landed beside him and felt around, trying to determine exactly how much he was bleeding. It was difficult, seeing as the torch had gone out. Even with the sharp eyes of the elves, no light pierced the gloom of these tunnels. They couldn't see anything.

Glorfindel took slow, deep breaths as he eased himself up and out in the most contorted position manageable. It was a tight fit, but at least he was no longer trapped. He squeezed himself out of the top of the gap between the two rocks before falling gracefully down to the tunnel beyond. He landed in something wet and slimy. He tried not to think about that.

"Over here!" Elrond shouted again and listened keenly for the response.

He and Erestor were sitting in the cavern, back to back, trying to guide the guards back to their position. It had taken…a while. After a breath, something that sounded vaguely like "Getting closer" bounced off the walls of one of the tunnels. Elrond sighed deeply and waited a moment before calling out again "Over here!"

"We're stuck," Elrohir observed, peering through the darkness as though glowering at it enough would make it disappear.

Estel snorted. "You're telling me that you can't make it up that cliff again?"

"No, I'm saying that you can't make it. We'll have to find another way around."

"But what about Legolas?"

"We have no way of knowing where he is, but I doubt he's back in the direction we came."

Glorfindel tried desperately not to breathe through his nose as he scraped the mold from his clothes. He was wet and slimy and unhappy. He was also stuck on the wrong side of the rocks. Some distance away, he could vaguely pick up the sound of running water. It was better than nothing. With one hand on the wall to guide him, he set off down the tunnel once more.

The guards finally reappeared, and Elrond gave them a quick once-over as Erestor consulted the map once more. The guards described the shape of the tunnel they had been in and in quickly became apparent that the map was no longer correct. The shifting of the earth over the ages had blocked off some passages while creating new ones. They decided that Elrond and Erestor would wait in the cavern while the guards checked every tunnel that spanned off in each direction. Once they could no longer hear the calls that Elrond sent out to them, they would return. There was no use getting lost in a place like this.

Elladan took the lead and Elrohir brought up the rear with Estel safely cushioned between them. They had a vague sense of moving downhill and hoped that they were simply making their way down to the lowlands where the main cave entrance rested. The idea that they were moving deeper underground, well below the reach of light or fresh air, was not one that they wanted to consider. It wasn't just that they would die slow, horrible, agonizing deaths – it was that Legolas would never willingly go further underground. The thought that they might never find him sat perched in the back of their minds.

Glorfindel stood in front of the underground river, contemplating. By the light from a crack in the ceiling of the tunnel, he could just make out the passage through which the river disappeared. It was clearly going somewhere. He could just make out the sounds of a waterfall rumbling beyond the rocks. It was possible that this led to the outside world. Then again, it could just lead to another tunnel, and he didn't relish the idea of squeezing himself through another tight gap – let alone a tight gap surrounded by water. No, he'd save drowning for his last resort. Glorfindel continued on his way, making sure to keep the river marked in his mind.

It was useless. The guards had checked every tunnel and they all either returned to the cavern or continued on too far to safely go. Elrond couldn't risk either his people or himself getting lost in the endless maze of tunnels. They would have to retrace their steps and come up with a new solution. Perhaps they could mark their place with string, create a way of easily finding their way back. Elrond continued to ponder the possibilities as they made their way back to the mouth of the cave system. Except…they appeared to have been walking for a much longer time than usual. And was that crack in the ceiling new? Surely that rock hadn't been there before…

Was the air getting thinner? Elladan tried to push the thought from his mind as they continued on through the increasingly narrow passage. Every once in a while one of them would call out for Legolas, just on the faint possibility that he was somewhere nearby. As they continued on, the possibility seemed less and less likely. Especially in the dark, with no way of telling where they were or if they were passing his dead body or- What was that? Was that…light?

Glorfindel was back in front of the river, arms crossed and grumpy. The tunnel he had been following had just…stopped. It wasn't supposed to do that. Now, he was glaring at the river again, trying to talk himself out of jamming his body through a gap that looked smaller than the one he had been trapped in, all the while submerged in water and therefore without the luxury of bad timing. But he couldn't go back the way he came – there was simply no way to get through the rocks where he had been stuck. And there was no other way out. Glorfindel grumbled to himself as he stripped off his tunic and shoes, anything that might get trapped in the narrow passage. He took a deep breath, and dived.

Elrond frowned at Erestor, who frowned back. Behind them, the guards frowned at each other and the tunnels around them for good measure. They might be just the tiniest bit lost. This was certainly not the passage that they had followed to the chamber to being with. No, this was…new. Elrond looked between the two tunnels before them, glaring at each of them in the desperate hopes that they would reveal their secret. Either of them could lead back to the chamber. The other, as well as the tunnel behind them, led to Valar knew where. Unfortunately, the infamous Elrond side-eye didn't work on rock and stone. It did, however, succeed in making his companions vaguely nervous. After a long time, he picked a direction and they all started to walk, absolutely unsure as to whether or not they were going in the right direction.

Yes, it was definitely light. For the first time in ages, Elladan could make out the rocks on the walls and the shapes of his brothers behind him. He held his breath as they moved deeper into the light, their eyes slowly adjusting to the vision before them. It was the mouth of the cave! The remnants of the rocks which had fallen, trapping Legolas inside, were still on the ground – but most of them had been cleared. They exchanged wild glances and clambered over the rocks, much to the surprise of the two guards posted at the cave mouth.

"What are you doing here?" one of them asked, eyeing them. "Didn't you go off somewhere else?"

"Did you see Lord Elrond and his group?" the other prompted.

Elladan, Elrohir, and Estel all paled. They exchanged glances.

"Ada went that way?" Estel asked eventually, gesturing back at the expanse of tunnel they'd been navigating for ages, alone, without meeting anyone else.

A vague sinking feeling overtook the trio, but it soon dissipated in favour of shocked confusion as they heard the unmistakable sound of swearing floating over the surrounding hills. They watched in absolute disbelief as Elrond, Erestor, and some guards appeared over the crest of one of the hills, covered in dust and mud and grime. They had all taken on the vague appearance of drowned rats, and it was no surprise that the others were giving their father a wide berth. Lord Elrond of Rivendell never swore, not in the centuries that any of them knew him. Apparently all it had taken was a day trapped in an endless expanse of tunnels. Who knew?

Elrond's face cleared as he saw his sons – three of them, anyway – and he looked them over as he reached them. Torn clothing, a little blood, tender ribs from Estel – honestly not as bad as he had been expecting. They certainly looked more put-together than him and his companions. He eyed the spikes formed in Erestor's hair from the mud and dust and nodded in acknowledgement of his sons' bewildered looks. He opened his mouth to say something but was distracted by a lone figure stumbling into view from the opposite side of the clearing.

They all turned and watched in morbid fascination as Glorfindel approached, naked except for his trousers, dripping wet, and with deep scratches all down his chest, arms, and back. He staggered up to the group with a wild, slightly manic grin.

"I thought you said the western tunnel system was supposed to be, what was the word? Inaccessible?" Elrond observed, eyes flickering between the sopping elf and his sheepish-looking sons.

"Not with the right attitude," Glorfindel replied seriously, and then coughed some more river from his lungs. "The waterfall's just a little tricky to navigate."

"So we're all alive," Elrohir concluded, looking less thrilled than he should be at that statement. "But what about Legolas? He's still missing!"

That sent a wave of unease over the entire group. In truth, they had all been so preoccupied with finding their way out of the tunnels themselves that the missing prince had fallen somewhat to the wayside. Estel shot a hopeless glance at Elrond, while Erestor looked hopelessly at the mud-spattered map. What were they going to do? How could they possibly-

"Well this is awkward," Legolas observed, eyeing the group from a safe distance. "I hope you didn't go through too much trouble on my account." About a dozen pairs of eyes stared at him in shocked silence from various positions across the clearing. "Ah, clearly you did. Um, sorry about that."

"How?" Elrond asked incredulously, while Estel stumbled over and threw his arms around his friend.

"I thought you knew I was safe," Legolas admitted, scrunching his nose as the damp and mildew clothing of the human currently wrapped around him. "Didn't you see the side-passage right next to the cave-in?"

They all followed Legolas' pointing finger to a small, craggy entrance just to the left of the large pile of boulders surrounding the larger mouth of the cave.

"No," Elrohir observed, turning back to his friend with a glare. "Clearly we didn't know about that one, Legolas!"

"Sorry?" Legolas offered, subtly trying to pry the human from around his waist. "I got back to Rivendell to find the place in an uproar. I came back here as soon as I could."

"My Lord Elrond!" a new guard called out from the woods, waving them down. "My lord, I am pleased to report that a rescue mission has been successfully launched from the southern gorge. Fear not – we will find Prince Le…"

He trailed off, his eyes flickering from said prince to the battered elves around him to the increasingly disgruntled looking Lord of Imladris. Erestor cleared his throat lightly, taking sudden interest in his map. The quartet of youth merely stared at Elrond, waiting to see what would happen next. The Lord of Rivendell merely pinched the bridge of his nose between finger and son and let out a world-weary sigh.

"Just…" He said, making a vague waving gesture at his sons. "Just go."

They didn't need to be told twice.