No Home Here

Chapter Four: Elrond’s Koi

It had hardly been ten days and already Elladan was pacing. His twin watched him with amusement as he traced his chosen course around and around the twins’ sitting room.

Elrohir was curled up in a window seat, mid-morning light streaming in on him and causing him to squint one eye against its brilliance. A book of lore lay open on his lap: forgotten for a moment as the dark-haired elf watched his brother stride around the room in a restless sort of way.

For his part, the younger twin didn’t really understand why Elladan was working himself into such a frenzy. Yes, of course Elrohir was worried about his foster brother, but still, it had barely been over a week.

The gray-eyed elf couldn’t help but smile as he thought of the way his twin would think of the situation. Putting himself in the slightly older elf’s skin, he knew that the whole mess of circumstances looked completely different. Elladan had always been a bit overprotective of the young edan, trying to keep him out of situations that might get him into trouble or hurt in any way.

Unfortunately, when living with the sons of Elrond, life was never that simple. The twins were always up to the tips of their ears in some kind of trouble or mischief, and whatever his role models did, Estel was bound to be right behind them.

This habit was bound to drive the elder, more protective twin up the wall with worry when the man attempted to keep up with the elven twins in their pranks and practical jokes. Now Estel was gone, and for the first time his older brothers weren’t with him.

Elladan had gone somewhere bordering between insanity and rage when he hear that their father was sending the young man on a scouting trip to the Shire alone. Elrohir, fearing that his twin’s outburst might be detrimental to his foster-brother’s self esteem, had taken the enraged elf some distance out into the woods surrounding Rivendell to let him vent his rage on an innocent bush.

Surprisingly enough, once Estel had left Rivendell, Elladan had become generally tractable, and hadn’t attempted to launch any search parties… yet. Now he was afraid that his twin might relapse into his old bad habits and ride out to search out their brother himself.

Sighing, Elrohir set his book aside and stretched leisurely, causing his twin to glance sharply at him as he passed by the window-seat. Swinging long legs over the edge of the seat and letting his feet rest on the rug-covered floor.

Elladan finally paused in his pacing, glaring at his stretching twin, who pointedly ignored his stares. “Dinner, Elladan?” He asked calmly, attempting to distract his twin. “The bell should be ringing soon.”

Unfortunately his plan backfired, and his words only caused the older elf to frown. “No, brother, I do not think I can eat right now.” Elrohir smiled sadly and swung his arm around his twin’s shoulder, herding him towards the door.

“Well that is a sad occurrence.” He replied with a wistful smile. “For I could have sworn I heard one of the cooks mention tarts for desert.” This was a downright lie, but it pained Elrohir to see his second half worrying so much about something that he couldn’t eat.

Usually the mere mention of Rivendell’s famed tarts dashing for the dining hall, but now even this failed to raise Elladan’s spirits. So instead of heading towards the dining hall Elrohir started off with his brother towards the interior courtyard.

After a few minutes of walking in strained silence, the came to a wood door leading into an airy courtyard. The merry trickling sounds of a small waterfall filled the cobbled yard, and ivy crawled up all of the surrounding walls. Elladan slid out from under his brother’s arm and went to sit on one of the rocks enclosing the pond into which the waterfall flowed.

His twin silently came over to stand behind him, looking over his shoulder at the rippling pond while his brother nervously tapped long fingers on the rock on which he sat.

Dark and light shapes slipped through the plants lining the bottom of the pool, and Elrohir smiled at the sight of his father’s koi. The fish lived out a happy existence in the little pond, and there was never a lack of kind kitchen staff or curious visitors to supplement their watery diet with breadcrumbs and similar offerings.

Now Elrohir gazed at Elrond’s fish and saw an opportunity to teach his moping brother a lesson. Singling out a smaller fish, the agile elf cupped his hands and in one fluid movement had captured the koi along with a small amount of pond water.

Moving quickly, he traveled with the struggling fish over to the top of the small waterfall where there was an area of flat water before the water level dropped sharply off. The elf released the koi at the top of the waterfall, at the same time beckoning his brother over to where he stood.

Bemused, Elladan stood up and hurried over to his twin. The identical elves watched in silence as the fish swam in a few cautious circles. Then, suddenly the koi put on a burst of speed and flew over the side of the falls, propelling its body so that it flew over the small rocks at the base of the waterfall and landed with a splash in the middle of the small pool.

Immediately the fish swam over to where Elrohir had snatched it from, and playfully bumped into a few of the other koi as if nothing had ever happened. Elrohir smiled and turned to look at his perplexed twin. “No matter what separates us, he’ll be back.” He said simply, knowing that no other words were needed.

Elladan slowly broke into a grin as comprehension of what dawned on him, and then smacked his brother lightly on the back. Elrohir winked slyly, and then turned to go back inside.

Elladan’s voice stopped him before he took more than a few steps, however. “So brother, are you still up to those tarts?” The younger twin whipped around, a slightly guilty expression on his fair face. Elladan narrowed his eyes menacingly, knowing what that look meant. Without a word, Elrohir broke into a sprint, his twin hot on heels.

As both elves disappeared inside the last homely house, Elrond stepped away from the window where he had been standing. A smile was on the elf lord’s face: his oldest had finally come to expect the inevitable. He chuckled as he thought about Elrohir’s trick with the koi. The peredhil wondered exactly how many times Elrohir had sent his fish down that waterfall. Shaking his head, Elrond vowed that from now on, he was keeping a closer eye out for flying fish.