Dan's mother did not take long to find. She wept, but Dan could not find the tears. He told her of Josur's plan and pledged that he would go with him, but he knew in his heart that he would not. The was a burning, smouldering feeling inside of him; like a fire just kindled and being coaxed gently into life, taking hold of each vein and artery and winding it's tendrils flickering and burning into his flesh. It was a passion and a yearning, and something he couldn't quite tie down. The answer did not lie heer in Helm's Deep, nor in Edoras and perhaps not even in Rohan.

Phil was waiting for him, his face washed and glowing again. His hair was pulled back into neat braids and his armour had been traded for light cotton.

"My company moves out in three days," he said as Dan approached. "Many of our people are dead. We cannot stay here."

"I wish I could do that," Dan said bitterly, slumping down on the stone steps. "This place is horrible. Do you think it is heartless, to wish never to say my farewells?"

Phil shook his head, sitting down beside Dan, his long limbs suddenly awkward out of the practiced grace of battle. His hand hovered for a moment by Dan's shoulder, before settling in his lap. "We will hold a ceremony for our dead, but they will be laid to rest in their own lands with their own customs. I'm not escaping, either. I don't think you are heartless. Everyone grieves in different ways. I feel what you feel. I have been to many of these ceremonies, and they do not provide closure but reopen the wound."

"Exactly!" Dan exclaimed. "I don't suppose I could go with you anyway? Sneak in a wagon or something. Tell my mum I fell asleep by accident, and woke up miles from home unfortunately missing all the mourning stuff."

Phil flashed him a grin. "In your people's terms at least, you are an adult. I can't stop you. But why must you sneak away, when you could run?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, your plan seems fairly bleak. You get discovered and cast out somewhere on the road. Then what? You walk back on your own? These are perilous times. It is not safe to wander alone."

"Come with me, then." Dan said suddenly, a flush rising in his cheeks. "You don't want to go back either. Let's run away."

An amused smile danced across Phil's lips. "That was what I was going to suggest."

"Really?" Dan blinked.

Phil nodded. "I will tell my people that my new friend has an urgent quest and we must attend to it immediately. You were struck by some poison, perhaps, and three days is too long to tarry - we must leave immediately to seek elven healing power. You can tell your mother and your friends that I am the one with the hurt."

"That deception came way too quickly. Is this something you do a lot?" Dan said slowly, the cogs turning in his mind.

"I've had some time to consider." Phil confessed.

Dan sat in silence a few more seconds, following the grain in the stone with his eyes. "What, running away with a stable boy?" He couldn't bring himself to look up, and it was hard to read sincerity or another grin in the elf's tone.

"I am but a boy myself, to the elves," Phil said. "I have wondered for some time if war was really my calling. Tonight tripled that doubt. We seem to be likeminded on that one. I would like to travel Middle Earth without death and horror at the end of each long march. I don't know if our news is of concern to you, but my people are leaving these lands and returning across the sea. I would like to feel as if I truly knew them before I go."

Now Dan raised his face. He felt guilty for the glow in his heart. He was supposed to be mourning, not picturing a bright future. But what was war if not a fight for the future? "Travelling? Where?" He asked.

"Wherever," Phil shrugged. When elves were motionless it was with a stillness that no other man nor beast could emanate. Perhaps it was this that others found so intimidating. Phil's gaze was very steady. The only movement came from a stray tendril of dark hair loose from the braid above his ear and floating in the breeze. "Away from war."

"Why me?" The question felt stupid on Dan's lips, but Phil's expression didn't change.

"I'm not sure," he seemed to consider for a moment. "Partly because of timing. I believe that there is some truth in fate. We are both here thinking and feeling the same thing at the same time, and the opportunity to act just happens to be right now, too. I've never had escape so within my grasp before. It feels like the right time.

"We were thrown together somewhat, don't you think? I barely left your side all night. At first I felt the need to care for you. You were not built for war, nor were you prepared. Your purpose lies somewhere else. I saw myself reflected in that. I confess, the elves are prone to considering the fleeting lives of men a little below them. How could men possibly become as wise and learned and great as us in so short a time? But I think perhaps, last night, I started to learn." He smiled, his eyes warm.

A shiver ran down Dan's spine. He brought his knee up awkwardly and hugged it to his chest, trying not to blink too much and keep the muscles in his face from moving.

"You fascinated me," Phil carried on. "And you continue to. I want to learn. The emotions, the heartbreak, the speed of everything. Time is so absolute to you. You count every second. There were men on that wall with death stalking their footsteps and yet they had never left their home city. They had never seen an elven kingdom or a dwarvish stronghold. Never passed through the Argonath or walked the halls of Erebor, never seen a firemoon nor even the great expanse of the sea. Human emotions are so powerful and beautiful in themselves. Perhaps it is selfish, but I would like to show you these things so that I in turn could watch you as you gaze upon them and be glad. You more so than others have the light of the stars in your eyes. We elves set a great deal by both light and stars. If you stayed here to age and decay it would be a great waste. I am drawn to you, but I do not yet know why. Perhaps we have some purpose to fulfil together. I would like to find out."

There was a moment of silence that seemed to fill even the huge expanse of the stone hall, and then;

"Okay." Dan said simply.

Phil nodded. He stood up, gazing down the corridor. "We must say goodbyes, and gather the necessary supplies."

Dan stood up and, with a deep breath, took a deliberate step closer to Phil. He forced himself to meet Phil's questioning gaze. "Thank you." He said quietly.

Phil's expression softened. "There is no need for thanks. We are each other's escape." He held out a hand, and Dan took it. They shook.

"Oh, for Theoden's sake." Josur said from behind a crate of cabbages.

*

Dan and Phil stood at the crest of a hill, looking out across the grassy plains of Rohan, now grey in the purple twilight.

"Elenya. Stars' day. It is the first day of a new Elvish week, which makes the count three days since we met," Phil said quietly. "But I feel as if I know you as I know my own kin."

Dan let his eyes dip and climb the rolling hills and pastures just visible in the fading light. "I'm scared."

"We can still turn back. We're still within the lands of Helm's Deep. We haven't run yet, merely taken a stroll."

Dan shook his head. "I'm sure. I don't think I've ever been so sure of something in my life. But i'm still scared. I don't know what's out there. A lot of Orcs. And war. We didn't exactly pick the best time to go holidaying."

"It may be the last chance there is."

"I know that. Phil?"

"Yes?"

"Will you tell me your real name?"

"It is Ladrengil."

"What does it mean?"

"Valley of stars."

And as Dan looked up, the first constellations peeked sparkling and silver through the veil of cloud, and the valley below them was grey and blue but for a ribbon of water twisting through the glades and reflecting white the light of the shimmering moon, and then the light of the stars were in Phil's eyes, cerulean in daytime but now the precise shade of midnight as he leaned forwards to press his lips against Dan's.