Title: The black bear near Mirkwood

Summary: A young Estel (Aragorn) gets separated from the twins on the way home from Lothlorien and makes a new friend.

Disclaimer: don't own them, just wish that I did. They belong to J.R.R. Tolkien…

A/N: It's slightly AU. This is pre-LOTR and even before 'The Hobbit', though Aragorn has already been born. He's eight years at this time and lives with Elrond at Rivendell/Imladris. I know his mother was actually alive at this time but pretend she was killed as well by the orcs.

When Estel's only in the company of elves, the speech is in elvish, otherwise it is in Common… Italics are either emphasis or thoughts… You know I'm not a doctor, nor am I Tolkien, so forgive me if things seem off – it's fanfic after all. Enjoy!

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Chapter 1

"Estel! Not so fast, we'll get back to Rivendell soon enough. No need to hurry." Elladan, the eldest of the elven twins said to his human brother, a smile on his fair face. At first Estel hadn't wanted to leave Lothlorien at all, begging to stay for a few more days… Both Elladan and Elrohir knew his reason. Estel loved spending time with his 'grandparents' and his sister and it wasn't often that he was allowed to leave the safe haven of Rivendell. Besides, the twin thought, I think he has a small crush on Arwen!

Elladan smiled as he thought back to just before their departure from home. Elrond had told the twins over and over to be careful and take care of their little brother. And did they have everything they needed? Had they packed enough warm clothes for the boy? Did they have the healing herbs with them? And so on. It's lucky we ever got outside of Rivendell. Ada can be so protective…

Estel stopped the pony he was riding and turned towards his brother. There was a serious expression on his face one wouldn't expect from an eight year old and his eyes were darkened as though bothered by something.

Elrohir saw this and came up beside him. "What is it, Estel? You seem troubled."

Estel looked in the elf's eyes. "We have to hurry. I don't know why. I have this feeling…" He closed his eyes as if he thus could pinpoint where the feeling came from.

Suddenly he felt a hand touch his shoulder. When he opened his eyes, he saw Elrohir looking at him, a worried expression on his face. Estel didn't want to worry his brother, so he smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. It's probably nothing, just my imagination."

But his brothers weren't satisfied to leave it at that. "No," Elladan said, suddenly coming up on Estel's other side, "tell us. What do you sense?"

Estel looked at the ground, wondering if they would think him a fool or that he was once again pretending to sense things he just couldn't. "I don't know how, but I feel danger coming our way… I feel this choking sensation inside me telling me to run, to get away while it is still possible." He looked up at his brothers. "Pretty stupid, isn't it?"

But Elladan laid a hand on his other shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. "Don't discard something you don't understand as something stupid. If you have a feeling, you should listen to it; it's your instinct. It's dangerous not to listen to it. We know…" he trailed off, not wanting to discuss that line of topic any further.

Elrohir knew what he was thinking and quickly changed the topic, "We should make haste then. It wouldn't do for us to just stand here like targets! Let's ride!"

And with that, they hurriedly rode on until it was too dark and risky to ride. They were travelling the path north-west from Lothlorien and were only about two leagues south of Mirkwood forest when they made their camp. They had made a pretty good distance that day and were eager to return home.

Estel on the other hand wished he could stay out here for a little while longer. Though he missed his father, he was not yet ready to return to his secluded home where it seemed hardly anything ever happened.

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Estel watched his brothers prepare their dinner, anxiously tapping his foot the entire time. The feeling had not left him, but he didn't want it to spoil his time he had out here. Every time the twins took him somewhere it felt like an adventure and when he got back home he would always sit on his father's lap in the Hall of Fire and tell him of all the things he had seen and learned. Elrond would listen patiently to his youngest son and just enjoy his company – hearing things as they were seen through the eyes of a child.

"Are you sure you need to use so much of the herbs?" Elladan questioned Elrohir.

The younger twin just waved his hand at his brother, grabbing another handful of the herbs and stirring them in the stew, "Oh, it will be fine, Elladan! I may not cook much, but I do know how to make a decent meal!"

Elladan rolled his eyes and shot a suffering look at Estel, "There is a reason Ada and I don't let him prepare dinner, Estel. Or had you had forgotten, Elrohir? Remember last time that we all went to bed hungry because it tasted so horrible?"

Giggles could be heard and the twins could see their little brother holding his hand over his mouth to smother the sound.

Elrohir shook his head and filled three bowls with the stew, handing them to the others, "Eat up, little one. You're still growing and we can't have your tummy rumbling, now can we?"

Stilling his laughter Estel took the bowl, looking suspiciously at it and waiting for their cook to try it first. Seeing Elrohir eating, the boy followed his example. Well, he must have improved his skills then for it tastes all right to me!

Soon after their dinner, the twins told their brother it was time for little boys to go to sleep and – tired from the travel, Estel did so without protest. The twins sat on the ground near the still burning fire, aware of their surroundings and just enjoying the clear night sky. They hadn't forgotten Estel's feelings and it would be folly to pay no attention to them. Thus it was that deep in the night heavy footfalls could be heard as well as howls in de distance.

The twins looked at each other; this could only mean one thing – when there were wargs, there were orcs! Elrohir quickly shook Estel awake before gathering their things while Elladan killed the fire and helped readying the horses.

Mind and movement slow after coming out of his dead sleep; Estel looked blearily at the twins, "El'dan? El'hir? What's wrong?"

"Orcs," Elladan said, picking up Estel and putting him on own horse, "we need to get away from here as soon as possible. We need to go north, down wind so they will not catch our sent!" If they had any chance of avoiding battle, they would take it. As soon as all three were seated on their horses, they were off.

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Elrond had always warned them not to ride in the dark, for the vision of the horses would be greatly impaired and the animals would stumble far easier. Luck had seemed to turn against them as clouds moved in front of the moon, covering it entirely. Not liking it one bit, the trio had to slow down – hearing behind them the howls of the wargs.

Estel shivered as he heard the wolf like beasts. He had never seen them before – not that he could remember, but from what his brothers had told them they were huge and even more vicious than the wild boars in the forest. The twins had even told them that orcs and goblins sometimes would ride on them as they did their horses, though that must make a funny sight the youngster had always thought. Now there was nothing comical about that idea as fear crept in his heart.

The two elves could see the young boy was startled as all of a sudden, his horse stumbled on an unseen root in the ground – going through its knees and unseating the rider. Estel fell to the ground hard and for a moment panicked as he couldn't breathe. As soon as the shock wore off, breathing returned to him and biting his lip he stood up. His horse was slowly getting off the ground, but its front leg was bleeding and seemed to hurt it greatly since the animal was trying to keep it off the ground. Talking soothingly to it, Estel rubbed its nose.

"Are you all right?" Elrohir softly called.

Estel nodded, "But Aenon hurt his leg…"

Elrohir sighed as he knew Estel's horse was in danger, but they could ill afford to stay out here in the open. They could not decide to attack the orcs, not with Estel here! Already he could see the outer fringes of Mirkwood forest and the orcs would be easier to lose in the dense woods. Holding out one hand for the boy to take, the elf swung his little brother before him in the saddle. Looking at Aenon, he spoke to the scared animal, "Make your way inside Mirkwood and look out for elves. I'm sorry, my friend, but there is nothing we can do…"

The horse shook its head several times before moving off, trying to use only three legs and get away as fast as possible.

All of a sudden, Elrohir's horse reared up and whinnied. Quickly grabbing hold of the boy, Elrohir made sure Estel didn't fall off. The horse however couldn't seem to hold their weight any longer – its legs trembling under it. Sensing this, the two quickly had to get off and Elrohir realized: whether they wanted to or not, there was no way they were simply walking away from the orcs.

Looking at Elladan, he saw that he too was down on the ground next to his dying horse. The sounds of ringing metal were coming closer and even Estel could see the orcs coming at them. The beasts were riding the huge wolves and shooting at them and their horses.

With a final farewell stroke to his horse's nose, Elladan stood up and drew his own bow – firing at the orcs coming in his range. "Go! Go hide inside the forest and we will come after you once we have taken care of these monstrosities!"

Seeing the boy hesitate Elrohir shouted, "Now!" having drawn his own bow as well, "Run Estel! And don't look back!"

Estel, too dumbstruck to really comprehend what was happening did as his brothers bid him – running as quickly as his small legs could carry him. If he had seen how close the evil creatures were it might have spurred him on more, but he did not until it was too late.

Just before he reached the relative safety of the woods (after all, Estel had heard of the spiders roaming Mirkwood), Estel was grabbed from behind and turned around. He could feel razor-sharp nails clawing through his shirt until it barely hung on his body and in his panic upon seeing the twisted creature in front of him, Estel managed to twist free – losing his shirt entirely with the move.

What he didn't see however, was an elven arrow burrowing itself into the creature's back, preventing the orc from following him into the woods. It was the best the twins could do at the moment to protect their little brother…

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Estel ran through the forest, not caring that branches were scratching his cheeks and his bare torso. Tears streaked down his face and he was sobbing as he ran. Go! Run Estel! His brothers' words to him before they were separated ran through his head.

He had been sure at the time that his brothers had been running after him, but when he had looked back some time ago he saw no sign of them. Where did they go? Did the orcs get them? No! Elladan and Elrohir can beat any orc they meet. But there were so many! Oh, please be all right. He wanted to turn back and find his brothers, but they had told him to run as fast as he could and to hide somewhere where orcs wouldn't find him. Until they came for him… then everything would be well again. If they come for me… No! They will come. Doubt was beginning to set in. He knew his brothers were good fighters, but could they handle so many orcs at once?

Almost there… he thought as he ran deeper into the forest. Almost… He was panting now – he couldn't go much further. He looked back to see if anyone was behind him… no one there. All of a sudden, he crashed into something hard. He turned his head back and saw in front of him a chest clad with mail. He looked up at the person he crashed into and his hopes sank as he stared up at the face of a huge and ugly orc. Estel tried to step back as he noticed the sneering face with its rotten teeth, but struggling was of no use. He once again felt the sharp claws, but this time they were digging into his shoulders – keeping him in place and drawing blood.

"Where d'ya think you're going, little maggot?" it sneered in haltingly Common.

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The orc laughed at him and called out some words in the foul language the creatures used. More orcs suddenly appeared from the surrounding trees and circled round the human boy. They moved quickly, holding their claw-like hands in front of them like eagles when spotting their quarry and swinging their head from one side to the other as if studying something they had never seen before. The one who still held him looked slightly different from these new ones and from somewhere in his mind Estel concluded that it might be goblins, but when the larger beast pushed him roughly to the ground all thoughts fled the little boy.

He fell on his back and tried to scramble away from the horrible creatures, but the beasts were quick to restrain him; holding his arms and legs in a bruising grip – pinning him to the ground so that he could not even lift his head.

"You stay away from me!" Estel yelled, but he couldn't hide the panic he felt. The orc must have sensed this, for with a malicious sneer, it scratched the boy's chest from shoulder to side with one of its filthy nails.

A stinging pain assailed the small human and he couldn't stop the cry from escaping or the tears from falling. This only seemed to spur the creature on and it did it again, but this time with his other side, licking the blood that streamed down his body in small rivulets. Estel tried kicking and wrestling himself free, but the other goblins gripped him even tighter until he could feel one of his bones snap in his arms. He was trying unsuccessfully to keep any more tears at bay and be brave like his brothers would be, but the silver drops continued running down his cheeks. "Help" he yelled at the top of his lungs in elvish – his first language, while renewing his struggles, "Someone help me!"

The huge orc was not happy with this, hating all things elven and the fact that their captive was shouting in its ear. It growled something at him and hit the boy on the cheek. It seemed to be a warning, but Estel couldn't understand it. The only things he understood right now were pain and that he needed to escape!

The orc roughly kicked him in the side with its iron shod foot, driving the air from his lungs. Then it raised its fist and hit Estel again, the fist catching a sensitive spot on the side of his face. This sent him into blessed darkness. But… would he wake from it ever again?

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TBC

Please let me know what you think? :)