Round Robin
Chapter 11
By T'Pai

Elladan and Elrohir had slowed when they heard a foreign voice asking: "And why would I do that?" They could barely restrain themselves from running straight into trouble, especially when they heard Legolas answering. But they knew it would do no good to their little brother or his elven friend if they were caught, too; and they didn't know how many enemies there were--the rain had washed away some of the tracks, and made all the footprints look the same. The twins came slowly nearer, so as not to alert anyone to their presence.

They heard the rest of the exchange between Legolas and the other man, and when they heard Legolas gasping in pain, they were near enough to see what was happening. Three people were lying on the ground, obviously unconscious, and two were still standing. The three on the ground were a strange woman, Legolas, and Aragorn. When Elladan saw how his brother and his friend looked, deep anger seeped through him, and Elrohir held him back with a hand on the shoulder so that he wouldn't run to Estel.

A look around the clearing, however, showed them no other people, or signs of them, so Elrohir finally let Elladan's shoulder go, and they both drew their daggers.

Before the slavers knew what happened, they were both lying on the ground, being pinned down by some really angry elves. The twins hastily took out some ropes, (with the trouble they usually got into they always had some in their travel bags) and bound their prisoners.

Then they left them, and Elrohir went to secure the woman--they didn't know who she was and therefore decided better to be safe than sorry--while Elladan looked after Estel. His younger brother was soaked through, and dirty; his pulse was a little weak, and his breathing light; but there was no new wound to be seen. Overall, he wasn't in too bad a condition.

Having made sure that Estel was more or less all right, he joined his other brother, who was now examining Legolas. The elf prince was much worse than Aragorn. He had been in that terrible storm much longer, had suffered injuries, and had finally spent all his remaining strength trying to save Aragorn. They had to bring him home, to Elrond; but on the other hand, traveling through this storm with the weakened prince wasn't a good idea; so they carried Aragorn and Legolas into one of the wagons. These, at least, gave them some shelter from the still pouring rain. Then they took most of the wet clothes off the two, and wrapped them in some blankets that they had found.

When they were finished, they discussed the possible courses of action. Taking them to Rivendell would get difficult, and traveling through his weather could further harm Aragorn and Legolas; but they sorely needed Elrond to look after them. Finally the twins decided that Elladan would ride back to Rivendell, fetching their father, while Elrohir would wait for them and take care of Aragorn and Legolas. What to do with the slavers would be left for their father to decide, and until then they carried them--not very carefully--to the other wagon, and stored them there.

TBC...