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"Can you hear anything?" Elrohir said.

After a whole minute, Legolas let out a long drawn sigh and moved away from the tree.

"No I cannot."

"It has been two days."

"We have lost the trail." "How can this be?"

"Glorfindel said I would know their path, but it has been far from it!"

"What exactly did he tell you?"

"Esendri was supposed to leave directions."

"I do not see any directions!" Elrohir said. "I suggest we head north till we find the barren heath again. What was Glorfindel thinking? Why did he have to land me with you?"

"You enjoy it, do not deny this!"

"Pray tell!"

"You cannot resist my charms!" Legolas widened his grin, leaning in on a startled Elrohir. "Sorry, Elmaethor, I cannot be of any aid there. Blame Glorfindel when you next see him and implore him to choose better next time!"

"A good thing it is that I am now recovered enough to procure food for the both of us, although I can hardly thank you for that!"

Legolas blushed, recalling the soup he had attempted to make and the mushrooms which he had manage to reduce to the consistency of coal. He had give up after almost smothering them with the smoke that filled the cave as a result of his well-intentioned attempts to cook, and they had instead dug into their rations of lembas until Elrohir had recovered.

"In the meantime, should we be taking a northerly direction?" Elrohir said.

"Yes, Roh; at least until I find some directions!"

"Do you know where we were meant to go?"

"No, Roh. I find it rather strange. Glorfindel and Ada are hiding something! How does this all link together? This journey, the humans, the scouring of Eryn Galen, the Dwarf, everything! And now that I have mentioned the Dwarf, how I wish I could wring his infernal neck!"

Elrohir picked up the surreptitious glance Legolas threw at his ankle, and realisation dawned upon him. "Your ankle still hurts from that skirmish!"

"Sporadically."

"Why did you not say so earlier? If there is any neck that deserves wringing, I believe it to be yours!"

"It has never fully healed, and never will. It is a small price to pay if you consider I could have been unable to walk for life! Or if you consider that a tree once landed across my back!"

Elrohir winced at the memory, at the sickening sound the falling trunk had made when it hit Legolas square across his back, pinning him under it, much to the horror of the twins. He and Elladan had been convinced that Legolas was dead when he had not uttered a single sound. It was only upon extricating him that they realised he had bit his lower lip till it bled freely to stop himself from crying out loud.

"That is something I would rather forget! I hope you do not now tell me that your back still hurts!"

"It has never been better, Roh!" Legolas said, and Elrohir rolled his eyes.

"Listen!" Legolas stopped short in his tracks, and they heard a buzzing noise so soft they had almost missed it.

"It seems to be coming from that boulder!"

"Stay here, Roh. I will not come to any harm, I promise!" Legolas suppressed a laugh at the scowl on Elrohir's face.

Elrohir waited and watched as Legolas crept to the boulder. He was about to follow after Legolas when a dreadful, chilling sensation took over him. His stomach knotted, and his limbs turned to ice. It was as if all the feeling was beaten out of his body, and he found himself paralysed, rooted to the spot, unable to move.

You're not him. What have we here?

Elrohir struggled to respond, but found he could not -

"Roh!" The world swirled back into focus around him and he lurched forward, only to be caught by a concerned Legolas.

"What is it?" said Legolas, his face pulled into a tight frown. His eyes revealed more concern than his face would allow.

"Did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"A voice."

"I heard nothing, Roh!"

"I was paralysed, could not move, and it spoke to me!" Elrohir said, wiping the beads of perspiration from his brow.

"I should not have made you walk so much today; you have not quite recovered!"

Elrohir did not answer, and continued to stare at Legolas, searching for more answers.

"Roh?"

"Yes?"

"I feel -- I feel almost as if something evil is always lurking in the corner of my eye, but disappears the minute I try to look at it! I feel as if it is hunting me, playing with me, taunting me!"

"What do you mean?"

"I have been having dreams, Roh, dreams that come to me every night since we left Eryn Galen. In them, I see my mother, in her last moments."

Elrohir clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug deep ridges in his palms.

"It starts the same every night, with us watching the birds, and then we come under attack by a group of Orcs and Dwarves. I wake up then, unable to see any more."

"And the dreams are not familiar to you?"

"No, Roh. I do not know them."

Elrohir thought hard. Only a small child then, Legolas had not remembered how his mother had died. Elrohir, however, had been the one who held Legolas in his arms as he thrashed about in his sleep, waking up in the middle of a scream, face wet with tears, before eventually falling sleep again against his chest in the middle of a sob, with no recollection of the contents of his dreams the next morning.

"It has not been easy for you, and it is probable that they are just nightmares."

"No, Roh, they seem so real. Tell me, what do you know?"

"I only know what you tell me!" Elrohir said, aware that his words rang false, for Milinral told Elrond how Tuilinniel had come under attack and died defending Legolas.

"Perhaps they are just dreams."

The pair fell silent as the last rays of the sun disappeared into the horizon, and even then they allowed the long silence to continue.

"Roh, you need rest. I suggest we camp here tonight."

"Mayhap the voice was my exhaustion speaking."

Elrohir did not sound convinced by his own explanation, and Legolas avoid his gaze, instead busying himself with looking for food. He tried to say something, then walked off, leaving behind a troubled Elrohir behind.

*****

Sindarin Translations:
Mellon-nîn -- My friend
Elmaethor -- Elf-warrior

A/N: Both Elrohir and Legolas are hiding something from one another, but I fear you will have to read more to find out what it is!

Please note once again that this is the 'clean' version (no Slash). There isn't much difference between this and the one on FF.Net, although the story will start to deviate significantly as the plot unfolds.