Lord Elrond stood a fair distance away from two Elven girls who were giggling and screaming in delight, as the little grey pony they were mounted on trotted elegantly (or tried to mock the composure of all the other horses in the stables) around the gardens.

Will walked not too far behind, warning Tug a moment ago to be gentle with them, as the two girls jolted when he trotted over a loose tile on the path. The girls didn't notice, laughing with delight that they had their own little steed.

A small smile played across the Lord's face as he gazed at the scene, before turning around at the sound of footsteps approaching.

"Ah, Glorfindel," he greeted the golden haired warrior, who was followed unenthusiastically by a short man clad in a hood and armed with a bow. "This must be the other Ranger."

The man frowned. "Halt, not Ranger."

"Halt, then." Elrond bowed his head slightly and smiled in amusement at Halt's reaction. "You are not used to such etiquette?"

The man considered this question carefully, before answering, "No, I'm certainly not." His voice was even.

Glorfindel stood with his arms folded and a smile upon his fair face. "Is that Will and his horse I see over there?"

Eyebrows raised in surprise, the Ranger from Araluen walked to stand beside Elrond in three long strides. Over the railings he saw his apprentice, losing control of a lofty Tug who started showing off some more by doing laps around a water fountain.

Halt snorted as Will attempted to pull Tug back with the reins; the pony merely pulled away and trotted faster as his master sighed in defeat.

"Face it, he loves the attention!"

Will looked over at the voice and his eyes widened. "Halt?"

The man grunted. "I came to join the party."

Will forgot about Tug and the show pony act he was pulling and raced over to see his mentor, unsure how to greet him in the circumstance they were in … so he settled with an embrace.

Halt looked baffled, searching for just the right words to tell Will to shove off before the boy released him from the hug. "I can't believe it. This place is real."

Reluctantly, Halt nodded and cast Glorfindel a look. He was smirking beside Elrond, proud to be proven right (or not a mad man, as the two rangers believed him to be). Halt considered walking over to him and throwing him over into the fountain. In his mind, the image of a soaked Glorfindel drowning was hilarious. In reality, he didn't think the host of Elves in this valley would like it as much to see one of their own beaten by a short, grizzly faced man. Halt decided to be reasonable.

"Any ideas of getting us home?"

Will looked hopefully at Glorfindel and Elrond at his mentor's question. The golden haired lord looked to the ground suddenly, unsure. Elrond however, considered the facts swiftly.

"Everyone who has disappeared from here vanished and reappeared across the Bruinen. Am I correct?"

"Well," Halt started. "You're not wrong."

"Good … well, let's start there."

Elladan and Elrohir had traveled at dawn, well before Will stirred from his sleep, into the forest beyond the safety of the valley. With their father's permission, the two dressed lightly, arming themselves only with a bow and a long knife (similar to the saxe knife the rangers of Araluen were accustomed to), and scouted the forest and woodland over the Bruinen. They were the most curious as to the mystery. Was there an invisible border between two different worlds? A portal? And why the two rangers, Glorfindel and Talathir? Why not anyone else?

Considering the fact they couldn't control who disappeared and who didn't, the two decided to warn the other if they began to suddenly feel cold or short of breath (after listening to Glorfindel and Talathir's story, they saw that the two stories had similarities in regards to the mist).

But it wasn't a misty day that morning, or after noon when they tethered their horses to a tree and sat down, annoyed and munching into some fruit.

Elrohir scowled. "We're chasing shadows, brother. What lead do we have other than Glorfindel and Talathir's story?"

Biting his lip and lowering his half-eaten apple, Elladan pondered on the matter. He had felt quite sorry for the boy they seemed to terrorize in the same woods the other day, and even though he was safe back in Imladris, he couldn't help the feeling that he wanted to go home. Elladan wanted to bring the boy to his home, but how could he when he had no idea how he got here in the first place?

Elrohir suddenly gripped his arm tightly and hissed, "Can you hear that?"

Elladan's sharp hearing picked up the slight breeze in the air, their horses snorting and … voices?

Reaching for his bow, Elrohir leaped on his feet and lithely sped through the trees, moving quietly and swiftly.

Not worried for his brother, knowing he can avoid being seen if he wanted to, Elladan packed the remains of their lunch away and tried making out words. Unfortunately, he only picked up rough dialogue, mostly snarling. The type of talking Orcs did.

Orcs do not travel so close to the Valley … let alone in mid daylight …

Orcs weren't too fond of the light of Arien, yet the cover the gnarly trees gave, so close together, was enough to block the sunlight slightly.

Elladan quickly sheathed his knife and bolted after his brother, hoping to catch up to him. Elrohir already caught sight of the orcs, and he positioned himself high above them among the trees. Slowly they emerged into a small clearing without trees or bushes, snarling their filthy language. Elrohir counted them.

One … two … three … four …

Six altogether. Nothing he and Elladan can't take on. The pack stopped their trek and gathered in a sort of circle, discussing things the elf couldn't make out. He slowly reached for an arrow …

Before he let fire at the nearest orc, he made sure he could feel his brother's presence somewhere.

He's in the trees on the other side.

With the comfort of Elladan's help, he shot down his first target.

With a screech of pain the creature fell, thick black blood dripping down the arrow shaft lodged in his back as he died. His companions, startled, began to run back into the trees where they came from.

Big mistake on their part …

Elladan leaped from his tree branch in front of the orc in front, slicing his throat and turning to meet with a second victim, only to be met with claws to his right cheek.

Drawing fresh Elven blood, this particular vicious orc's sneer was met with an arrow to his chest.

Elrohir lowered his bow and raced to his brother's side.

Elladan softly caressed his own cheek, feeling wet blood through his white fingers. He frowned.

"Ow."

Knowing Elladan was going to be fine, Elrohir watched as the pack raced off into the woods, wailing and screeching unintelligable babble. The two sheathed their weapons and raced to their horses, giving chase.

A hunt was about to begin, and their blood was on fire.

It was nightfall in Rivendell, and Will rested his chin in his hands, gazing up at the stars he saw. He wasn't used to these stars. Their positions and constellations were so different. Everything he had studied about stars was completely useless when it came to the night sky here.

This was about to be his second night here with the Elves, and although he felt much better with Halt with him, he wanted to go back home. However at the same time, he wanted to take in and explore as much of this fanasty realm as he could. No one in Araluen would believe him about this place.

Elrond, Halt and Glorfindel were seated nearby, talking in hushed and serious tones as to not catch the attention of anyone passing by. Will lost interest in the conversation long ago. All they know is that something in the forest was strange and not right … not right at all.

Just when he thought he was about to go to sleep, Talathir, the young elf who brought Halt to Rivendell, urged Will to come outside.

The two walked together, Will rather clumsily as he was suddenly moving, and Talathir with grace and silent steps. The boy took a deep breath of fresh air as they stepped outside. Rivendell was indeed beautiful, and it seemed even more so during the night. The night before when he arrived with the twins, he thought it was an illusion … or a spell. Which reminded him, he hadn't seen the twins all day. Where did they go?

"Um, where are we going?" he dared ask the elf, who only smiled with a slight twinkle in his eyes.

"You and your friend like archery, yes?"

Will was still unsure where this was going. "Yes … I guess so?"

Was the elf going to challenge Will's skill with a bow? His thoughts were confirmed when Will was lead to an archery range. Despite the time of night it was, a few archers were still roaming the place, either stringing bows or practicing.

"I ..." Talathir hesitated. "Am not the best archer, I must say. But some here would be quite intrigued to see someone of your age display such skill." he grinned to comfort the boy. "I didn't bring you here to embarrass you."

Although the elf assured him so, Will still felt nervous when two archers waved him over to their spot. One was female, a beautiful elf with blonde hair in a firm plait. The other also blonde, although a male. They looked quite similar. Were they siblings?

"I've heard you are quite good," The woman smiled, handing Will a longbow. "Let's see if the rumors are true to their words."

Will inspected the bow, unfamiliar with its feel and draw weight. He drew the string back a couple of times to get used to the feeling, earning him approved looks from his new acquaintances.

Handing him a quiver with a few arrows, the two stepped back to watch, Talathir observing nearby.

Will took a deep breath as he held the sharp arrow between his fingers. Grabbing one, drawing back, aiming, releasing was so natural to him now. Was the fact that he was being observed by fantasy creatures the reason why he was feeling a little nervous?

However, taking another deep breath as he drew the string back, he urged himself to concentrate and to aim without distracting thoughts, shutting off everything else around him and focusing only on the middle. Then he released.

The arrow had found its mark, smacking into the red circle in the middle. Although it was not smack bang in the middle, it was still quite accurate. He suddenly felt proud, then remembered he was being watched when the two behind him applauded.

Kindly taking the bow from him and complimenting his skills, the blonde haired man swiftly took aim and released an arrow of his own, which landed right next to Will's – only it was right in the middle.

"You did well," he said, passing the bow to his female companion. "For a mortal of your age, not even old enough to be considered an adult, your skills are very impressive considering we age very differently from you."

"Very slowly, if at all, you mean." The woman stated, releasing her arrow. It was slightly off its mark, a few centimeters above Will's in the ring above the red bullseye.

The man smirked. "Your skills, however, are waning."

She glared at him before urging Will to release a few more arrows. Will was unsure if this was real as he fired arrow after arrow, before passing the bow to another for their go. To be even compared to an immortal being born with skills better than humans was unbelievable to him. They continued this for a while, Will sometimes hitting bullseye sometimes slightly off. But he never missed his mark entirely.

Just when Will was reading for another go, an arrow seemingly from no where shot past and thudded into the red circle. Stunned, the three turned around to see Glorfindel, Halt standing disgruntled beside him.

"Show off." he muttered under his breath, as the fair elf bowed graciously at his performance and gave Halt his bow back.

The woman clapped and sarcastically remarked, "Brilliant shot, my lord. Brilliant indeed."

"Perhaps you might watch out for our heads next time?" The man suggested before grinning apologetically at Will.

The time not worrying about getting home was abruptly cut short, as a cry from far off was heard and people were racing to the direction.

Glorfindel narrowed his eyes before walking off, Halt hot on his heels.

Talathir, Will and those by the archery range followed behind, and they found themselves in the middle of a courtyard, two worn out riders upon horses dismounting and wearily walking through the small crowd that formed. Will recognized them as the twins, and one of them had three deep, red stripes across his fair cheeks, standing out like wild red war paint.

"What happened?" Glorfindel called, walking quickly to the twins and inspecting Elladan's scratch – it wasn't as deep as it looked. It would heal under the hands of Elrond.

Said healer came out to meet his sons, his brows furrowed together tightly. "What did you find out there?"

The twins looked awful, Halt observed. Like they had been running blind through those woods and rolled in the dirt.

What Elrohir said next made the old ranger blink at the sudden words.

"Orcs … and a lot of them."