"Come on, which of you did it?"

"Ro, It was a joke! " Elladan protested.

"I know that brother, what I want to know is what idiot would sneak up on an innocent elf and drop a snake down his tunic!" Elrohir shouted.

"I'm not an idiot! And you're not innocent!" Legolas protested.

"See? See? Blame Legolas not me!"

"I only did that because you swore you'd tell Elrohir about that little incident involving the flour, berry juice, and –"Legolas's voice trailed off as he discovered that he'd revealed himself.

"So it was you!!" Elrohir hissed, "Alright this means revenge! I'm not going to-, actually, I am, but I also dare you to climb that tree right there and hang upside down from the highest branch until I tell you to come down. Agreed?"

Legolas gulped, knowing that Elrohir could leave him up there for hours, and they had just eaten lunch, but he wanted to prove himself to the two elder elves, do something that would stop their taunts that he was too young. He was only 50 years younger!

He took a deep breath, "All right" he said. "do I have to do it now though?"

"Of course you do, what better time than the present?"

Legolas groaned "All right then," he started up the tree, being careful to avoid the patches of ice.

"El, aren't you being a little bit hard on him? He's only-"

"A demon in disguise", his brother retorted.

Elladan sighed. Elrohir could be so stubborn.

"Keep going; keep going, all right start!" Legolas sighed and flipped upside down. Immediately, he felt all the blood rush to his head as well as his lunch, making him feel slightly ill.

The elf swallowed hard and willed the earlier meal to stay where it belonged but within a few minutes, he could barely keep control of what he'd eaten and decided reluctantly to ask Elrohir to let him go back down. After all, he didn't really want to embarrass himself further by being sick from up here.

"Elrohir, can I come back now? I don't feel good"

"N- Ai!" Elrohir said, glaring daggers at his twin "what was that for?".

"Come on Ro, can't you see he's about to be sick? You can come down now" he said.

Legolas sighed and tried to get back on the branch without swinging. It didn't work however and so the elf swung as high as he could, and when he could finally sit up properly, he went shakily to the tree trunk and climbed down swiftly.

Too swift. As he was making his way down, his foot slipped on some ice and he tried to regain his footing, but to no avail. Legolas cried out as he fell and the twins turned too late, for the poor elf was lying face down in, or rather, on the snow.

"Legolas!" they exclaimed. Legolas moaned and tried to sit up.

"That hurt". Elrohir dug the healing herbs out of his pack

"Diheno nin Legolas!" the younger twin said, looking guiltily at his friend,"are you hurt?"

"I don't think so" Legolas replied. However, when the elf tried to push himself into a sitting position, he cried out and fell back, cradling his left arm to his chest. Tears of pain and humiliation welled up in his sapphire-blue eyes.

Concerned, Elladan examined the prince's arm."You have a badly broken arm Legolas. I'll need to- Elrohir? What's wrong?". Elrohir had turned white and was staring into the trees.

"There are at least ten wolves watching us right now. Don't make any sudden moves, count to three and draw your sword." he said very softly.

"El, Legolas has a-"

"broken arm. Iston brother, but is there a way to get him out of this? They will attack without warning!"

Elladan sighed, "No."

"Elladan hand me my knife! I can defend myself " Legolas said as he shakily stood and regained his balance.

Elladan regarded Legolas doubtfully for a moment, then handed him the knife. The moment the elf was armed, the wolves attacked. Elrohir drew his sword instantly, but when Elladan reached for his, his hand met only air and he realized he'd left it by their packs!

He swore vividly and drew the dagger from his boot. Just in time. A wolf leapt out at him and he quickly dispatched it shouting, "Legolas, keep your back to the tree!" Legolas slashed another wolf's throat and complied.

Elrohir was having a particularly hard time on his own, as in most battles, he and Elladan fought back to back, and these wolves seemed particularly vicious, most likely from hunger.

The elf didn't notice a wolf of to the side until it pounced on him, and his quick reflexes saved him from being clawed to pieces. The wolf's carcass fell forward and he danced out of the way. Then he saw Elladan being assailed by three wolves, with two more coming up from behind!

Horrified, Elrohir instantly went over to aid his twin and killed the two who were closest to the elf, seeing Elladan locked in battle with the largest, who just happened to be the leader, tried to draw the others away. The plot worked, but now they were converging on him, with more joining them as they prepared to ambush him.

He suddenly realized he hadn't seen Legolas since the battle had begun, and looked around as much as the fight permitted. He saw Legolas slashing at a wolf's throat, and then lean back against the tree.

The elf was obviously in severe pain from his arm and numerous bites and scratches he had along his arms and face. He was pale, and his movements were slower that they should have been. All of a sudden, a wolf leapt through the prince's defenses, and sank razor sharp teeth into his side.

"Legolas!" Legolas gave a cry of pain, and drove his sword through its body, successfully killing it.

Elrohir could see crimson blood already starting to soak through his tunic as the elf sank to his knees, hands over his side, and tried to get get through to the elf but the number of wolves intent on ambushing him weren't about to let him go.

Elladan fought desperately against the leader, hoping against hope that he would get to Elrohir in time before he was turned into the wolves' meal. He was dimly aware of his twin screaming Legolas's name, and he tried to look and see what had happened to the elf, but he there was absolutely no lull in the fighting so far, so he didn't take the chance.

Finally he drove his sword, which he'd snatched up at some point, into the huge animal's chest, stabbing its heart and killing it instantly. Then he threw his knife at one of the wolves attacking Elrohir, rushed up, and finished off three more. Fear for his brother driving him to kill them off as fast as possible.

But now, they had cornered Elrohir at the edge of a precipice! Elladan yanked his knife free of the wolf he had killed earlier and threw it at the wolf closest to his brother; but it was too late.

Elrohir had been forced to back up, but the wolves right in front of him had kept him from checking the distance between himself and the cliff's edge. The moment Elladan threw his knife, the wolf in front of him had pounced, making him jump back.

The knife hit the wolf in the eye, and killed it, but Elrohir's foot suddenly met with air and the elf gave a cry of surprise as he fell. Elladan watched the events unfold in terror, and as Elrohir took the one step too many back, he cried out in dismay.

"ELROHIR!! No!" he yelled. He rushed up to the cliff and slaughtered the other two wolves.

Elladan had to also eradicate the other four wolves in order to be able to see Elrohir without being ambushed himself.

All in all, the fight went on for a few more minutes, more time than Elladan would have liked, but as the last wolf died, he went immediately to the cliff, hoping that somehow, Elrohir would be alive.

He looked over the edge and gasped in shock and disbelief. There had been a partally frozen lake under the rock face- and Elrohir had fallen through the ice. "Oh no."

TBC…

(A/N) I could have ended the chap one paragraph before, but I kept going for the sake of those of you who are reading this fic and want to know what happens next-