Elladan rose from his crouched position on the ground where he had been examining what they believed to be Estel's trail. Next to him, Elrohir glanced up at the sky in concern as the last hint of sun sank below the horizon, leaving them in darkness.

"Why would he leave the trail! I don't understand, we trained him better—" Elrohir began, only to be cut off by his brother.

"I don't know Elrohir. Obviously he was upset and wasn't paying attention. And he was already injured! What was he thinking, he knows better than to—" Elladan was also cut short as their father approached from behind.

"I know you are both concerned for Estel, but right now speculating on his decisions will not help us to find him. Now that it is dark we must make all haste to find him as quickly as possible." Elrond state firmly.

Elladan and Elrohir glanced around at the darkened forest surrounding them before shooting worried looks at one another. Their father was right—nighttime was when predators emerged from their dens, and they really didn't want to image what would happen if their little brother encountered some of the forest's more sinister beasts.

"We are sorry, Adar", Elladan said apologetically, "we are just so worried for Estel. I can't bear the thought of anything happening to him."

As Elrond opened his mouth to reply, an ear piercing howl cut through the silence of the forest, causing his blood to run cold. He spun around, facing the direction the sound had come from, and felt the blood drain from his face.

"Wargs…" he heard Elrohir gasp from behind him.

Ai, Estel, what mess have you gotten yourself into tithen pen.

Estel felt numb as he stared down the beast in front of him. It was a huge, ghastly creature—not even his brother's stories could have prepared him for the size of it. He had assumed it was similar to a normal wolf, but this thing had to be at least 3 times that. It's grey fur was matted, with tufts missing here and there, and its horrible yellow eyes had an intelligence that Estel felt did not belong there.

He gripped his small dagger so tightly that his fingers began to lose feeling, and he forced himself to loosen his grip slightly. In his haste to get some fresh air and leave the stronghold, it was the only weapon he had brought with him.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, he said to himself as he glanced from his tiny dagger to the huge creature that was slowly circling him, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

Unexpectedly the warg suddenly stopped in its path and that split second was the only warning Estel had before it lunged at him. Throwing himself to the side, he landed hard on the ground and jostled his already injured body.

Surprised by the flare of pain—in his fear he had all but forgotten he was hurt—he was distracted for the briefest of moments before leaping up and whirling to face the threat, but that second cost him dearly.

As he whirled around he was greeted by the sight of the warg preparing to lunge a second time. Estel tried to throw himself out of the way again but was not quite fast enough this time. As he felt the beast's razor sharp teeth sink into the flesh of his upper left arm, Estel couldn't hold back the scream of pain that ripped from his mouth.

He brought his other arm upwards and plunged his dagger into the creature's side, but the warg didn't seem fazed. Estel could feel himself weakening as the pain in his arm escalated, and he cried out again.

I am going to die here, he thought in amazement, I am going to die here and I will never get to apologize to Ada or stand up to the elflings or—

His internal panic was cut short as he heard a whistling sound cut through the air and the warg on top of him jolted as its teeth slightly loosened the death grip it still held on his arm. Estel strained his head, trying to see what was going on, but could see nothing. Another whistling sound, and the creature went limp on top of him, its teeth no longer clamped to his arm.

Estel's breath caught as he stared at the arrow shaft buried in the warg's neck. He would recognize those arrows anywhere. This meant—

"ESTEL!" a scared voice called as he felt someone skidding to a halt next to where he lay.

"Estel gwador, oh no, oh please be alright, please don't be—Elrohir's frantic dialogue went on as he and Elladan heaved the dead body of the warg off of him.

Elrond breathlessly entered the clearing as Elladan dropped to his knees next to his little brother, lifting him up and scanning him frantically before drawing him into a bone crushing hug. Though he welcomed the soothing contact, he couldn't help but gasp in pain as his injured arm was jostled. Elladan pulled back instantly, and he felt three pairs of concerned eyes rake over him.

"Estel ion nin, where are you hurt?" Elrond demanded. Even as the question was asked, he could feel their eyes zero in on his arm, where the wound was still slowly pulsing blood. Ripping the tattered sleeve of his shirt so that it was out of the way, Elrond began to examine it.

Now that the overwhelming relief had started to fade Elladan closed his eyes as he felt anger start to take its place.

"What were you thinking Estel?! To come this deep into the forest alone, and without any weapons at that! We taught you better than this, you could have been killed!" he seethed.

"Elladan…" he heard Elrohir start, ever the peacekeeper.

"No! It was stupid, it was reckless, he—"

"I KNOW! I know, okay? I'm stupid, and reckless, and weak, and will never be as good as you. I'm perfectly aware of that, thank you Elladan." Estel exploded from his place on the ground.

Three pairs of eyes gaped in shock at the normally so even-tempered youth.

Elrond was the first to speak.

"Weak? Estel, what ever are you talking about?"

Suddenly ashamed, Estel turned his eyes to the ground and began picking at a thread on his shirt.

Understanding seemed to flicker behind Elrond's ancient eyes, and he sighed.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with your recent encounter with a certain group of elflings, would it?"

Estel's head snapped up.

"How did you—"

"Estel, please," Elrond sighed, "give me some credit. You cannot hide these things from me. Besides, very little happens in this valley that I am unaware of."'

Anger flashed in the twins' eyes at the revelation that someone had intentionally hurt their brother, but a quick glance from Elrond silenced anything they were about to say.

Elrond knelt down so that he was at eye level with his son and tipped his chin upwards to force eye contact.

"Estel, you are not weak, and you are not stupid. Your brothers and I love you just the way you are. I would not have you any other way."

Estel's lips slowly curved into a smile, and he suddenly lunged forward and embraced his father.

"I love you ada."

Elrond tightened his grip on the child, wishing he could stop him from growing up and hold him in his arms forever.

"And I you, ion nin. Now, let's get you home and into bed. Your body needs rest to heal."

1 week later

Estel sighed as he looked longingly towards the archery fields where warriors were practicing their skills, the twins among them.

"Ada, can't I just—"

"No, Estel. You are still not fully healed, and I will not have you ruin my handiwork by drawing a bow or something equally foolish." Elrond stated. "Now, I have to go help sort through some of the healing herbs in the healing wing. I expect you to still be sitting on this bench when I return"

With that Elrond walked off, leaving Estel alone in his thoughts.

"Well, well, the weak little human is still alive. Went crying to daddy, did we?" a nasty voice sneered from behind him.

Closing his eyes briefly, Estel stood and slowly turned around to see Galalith and a couple of other elflings. They looked more unsure of themselves than usual—probably because they still remembered the tree incident. Galalith, on the other hand, seemed quite unaffected.

He's not worth it, he's not—

"I bet your stupid 'brothers' even pretended to care—"

Estel's internal mantra cut off as his fist connected with the elfling's face hard enough to cause him to stumble backwards.

Estel looked at his fist in shock. He hadn't even consciously made the decision to hit him! Looking up, he saw Galalith's staring at him incredulously, nursing what would inevitably turn into quite the shiner.

"I'm not weak, and I'm better than you'll ever be." Estel said calmly.

With that, he turned around, feeling more at peace than he had in quite a while. As he headed over to where his brother's were standing, he never saw the approving eyes of his father watching him from a nearby window. He had a family that loved him, and he was content in that knowledge.

Well. Here I am, 3 years later. I have no excuse for going such a long time without finishing this story. All I can say is I went off to college and got busy with life and honestly just forgot about this whole thing. The other day I was reading another story and thinking about how much I hate when authors abandon stories, and decided that I needed to give my own story some closure. So, if any of you are actually still following this story after such a long hiatus, I hope this final chapter gives you some closure! Enjoy!