Aragorn: 8 years old

That night Arwen had told Elrond again everything she had seen happen to Aragorn. Aragorn still hadn't told Elrond anything about Greakth because he didn't want to get him in trouble.

Aragorn was still majorly healing the next morning, but he insisted in getting out of bed and walking around. Elrond had advised him not to go near Greakth and Aragorn listened to his rule. He would rather stay away from that Elf anyway.

Elrond had put Aragorn's broken arm into a cast and held it up with a sling. The Elf also tended to Aragorn's minor wounds.

Aragorn walked around awkwardly while he still limped a little on his left leg. He had slept until the afternoon of that day. Usually he would wake up before the sun came over the mountains. That's how Elrond had more clarification on how something was wrong with Aragorn.

He started walking through Rivendell and found himself considering the forest again. He remembered the time he had seen wolves. Those amazing and beautiful creatures that for some reason Elrond did not approve of. Aragorn liked them though. He thought them to also be adventurous and alert as he always seemed to be.

Before Aragorn entered the woods, he gave one good look around, but saw no Elf nearby. He took his first step into the woods and crunched into the snow piles that had collected on the ground over time. He wished he could climb a tree at that very moment and gaze upon the white snow from a greater height, but he couldn't with his slight limp and casted arm.

He knew he shouldn't wonder too far, but he wanted to explore some more. There was so much beauty in Rivendell that he wanted to see every bit of it. After all, it was his new home.

Home.

He stopped to think about that for a moment. It made him happy. He liked all the Elves except Greakth, but so far, he had handled him pretty well. He hadn't died yet, as Greakth had obviously been intending him do.

Aragorn looked up to the clouds which he could barely see since the tree branches were in the way. He saw a cloud that looked like the outline of an oval. No... it was a ring. He studied it more closely and cocked his head at the odd shape of the cloud. Some cold wind blew past and the cloud blew away too.

That was strange.

Aragorn put his head down and kept walking. And walking, and walking. Soon nearly an hour had gone by and the only sound he could hear was the wind, the rustle of the tree branches, and birds singing songs to one another in the coldness.

He started looking around for a stick. There were lots of sticks on the ground since it was winter and the trees had lost all their leaves. All the trees were bare and held no leaves. It took him about ten minutes before he found a thick long one about the length and width of his arm. Aragorn picked it up and studied it.

Perfect.

With his one good arm, he started swinging it around and trying to find the catch of the cold wind on his stick. He tried different dodge maneuvers and ran through the forest like he was being chased by something. He pretended there was a horrible Orc chasing him and he had to defend him.

He ran and ran forgetting about his leg limp as he crunched through the snow. Every so often he would turn around and run backward as he swung his stick at the fake Orc chasing him. He did this for a while until he tripped over a tree root. Aragorn fell hard on his casted arm and toppled over. He felt instantly colder and alone. The fake Orc had vanished from his mind.

"Ouch!" he proclaimed out loud.

It was then that he looked around and noticed that the forest was dark. He looked to the sky and realized the sky was dark. It was now colder than during daylight. The sounds of the forest started coming to life now. Crickets and other insects of the night started coming out and chirping and crawling about. Wolves howling in the far distance made young Aragorn jump nearly out of his boots.

He decided it would be best if he went back home now to get some food. Although he might have missed it by now. Elrond would really be worried again. Aragorn felt bad about Elrond and Arwen being scared about where he was.

Elladan and Elrohir had been gone for the past week gathering supplies like wood and tools and they wouldn't be back for a while. He wondered if Elrond was worrying about them too.

This wasn't the first time he had worried Elrond. He was going home now.

He still clutched his play stick in his hand and decided he would bring it back to Rivendell and keep it so he could play his game again some time. He wondered through the woods for quite a while wondering where he was half the time.

The wood was very different after dark. Aragorn spotted many creatures lingering about through the dark shadows from the trees. He saw many insects, some of them flying into his face making him almost scream.

He also saw the wolf pack, but kept his distance since he knew Elrond wouldn't want him near them. Another creature he saw was a wild cat. Thankfully it was a kitten so it wouldn't harm Aragorn.

After about another hour, Aragorn finally saw a light in the distance through the thick trees. He couldn't believe he had made it back home. He ran through the trees and found himself walking through Rivendell again. There were still no Elves in sight anywhere.

He walked to his room and as he opened the door, Elrond was standing by his window. Aragorn felt his face turn red in embarrassment from keeping Elrond worried so long. From Aragorn opening the door Elrond turned and looked to him standing there.

"Sorry," Aragorn whispered softly feeling guilty.

Elrond walked over to Aragorn and kneeled to his height.

"There is nothing to be sorry about," he said calmly, "I know you will always come back,"

Aragorn smiled to this.

"I was..." Aragorn started.

"It doesn't matter where you were," Elrond said, "I'm just glad your back,"

They both smiled and Elrond gave Aragorn a hug. Aragorn accepted it and hugged him back with his free arm which he still carried the stick in. Elrond let Aragorn go and said,

"Tomorrow come and see me, we must talk,"

Aragorn nodded and asked,

"About what?"

"About something you will probably like," Elrond said with a smile.

Aragorn cocked his head and waited for more, but Elrond said no more. He simply smiled and walked out of Aragorn's room. Aragorn was left to wonder what 'the something' would be. He climbed into his bed and waited for morning to arrive. He hoped it would come soon.

A/N: What do you think the surprise will be?! Its a good one that will lead the story to get even more intense. :D