Disclaimer: Nothing in the Tolkein Universe belongs to me. I am not making any profit from this, and will return the characters in the best possible shape that I can. The only characters in this fic that belong to me are my original characters such as Atavus and Uglúk. Please don't borrow them unless you ask first.
Author's Note: This story is the first sequel to Blood For the Taking, and if you don't read it first you will probably not understand this one. As in that story this story is filled with lots of character torture, both mental and physical. And as a side note I have decided to stay to one name for Aragorn in this fic. I'm not sure if my going back and forth in the last one might have confused anyone. Aragorn goes by his elvish name, Estel in this fic.
Home Is Where The Heart Is
"Is the mountain pass clear yet?" Atavus asked as the Mirkwood patrol entered the main gate.
"Yes my lady." The leader of the patrol answered.
"Thank you." She said rushing off to the archery field. When she arrived she spotted Legolas and Estel practicing.
She rushed up to them, making the mistake of stepping in front of Estel as he took aim on the target. He had not heard her approach.
"Arrow." Legolas shouted, seeing what was happening.
Atavus immediately dropped to the ground. The arrow had missed her head by mere inches.
"What kind of fool thing was that to do?" Estel asked stalking over to her.
She lounged on the grass where she had fallen looking up with a bright smile on her face. Near arrow misses wouldn't even bring her spirits down on this day.
"An accident. I didn't see you aim." She answered laughing at the stern look on his face.
"What is so funny?" He asked not understanding her mirth.
"You look exactly like Lord Elrond when he is admonishing the twins for one of their many pranks." She said laughing even harder.
Estel looked to Legolas who just nodded his agreement. Then he looked back to Atavus. His frown then turned into a smile, as he too started laughing at himself. "All right. But what has gotten you in such a good mood this morning?"
"The mountain pass is open. We can go home Estel." She said with the biggest smile she could.
"I didn't realize you wanted to leave my Kingdom that badly, Atavus" Legolas said feigning hurt feelings.
"It's not that Legolas. I like Mirkwood, but I want to be home. I miss it so bad." She tried to explain.
"I understand my friend. We were just talking about when we should leave." Legolas couldn't believe the change in Atavus since they had escaped Dol Guldur. Before they were captured she had been happy, but in a melancholy sort of way. There were too many uncertainties in her life that caused her to feel uneasy in most situations. But no longer. Since Dol Guldur, she seemed to have come to accept herself more. She was more confident and sure of herself. He could see that a lot of the unresolved ill feelings she had harbored before had completely disappeared from her mind. She had gained something in her time at Dol Guldur that meant more to her than life itself. She had gained a family, and a place to truly belong, and now she wanted to go home. He understood more than she realized.
"Did you say we?" She asked receiving a teasing smile from the blond haired elf. "Did he say we?" She turned to Estel hoping to receive more cooperation on his part. Again she just received a smile.
"You did. I heard you. You're coming with us." She said bounding to her feet. She wanted to leave immediately. The fact that she thought Legolas wouldn't be coming with them was what had kept her from just rushing out the gate.
"Yes I am, but we don't leave for a few days. My father will want to host a farewell banquet before we leave. It's a ridiculous custom, but he always insists upon it when I leave his realm." Legolas explained. He wasn't sure if she could contain her excitement long enough not to insult his father.
"Okay. I promise I won't insult your father. I will look sufficiently upset to be leaving Mirkwood when we say our farewells." She promised, setting a depressed look to her face so they could see that she would be able to pull it off.
To her chagrin they both broke out laughing hard enough to draw attention to the three of them. The other elves on the archery field stopped what they were doing to watch their prince. "I do believe you too have lost your sanity. Maybe I ought to go get your father's healers." She said trying to focus the embarrassment on her friends instead of herself. She knew the suggestion would get their attention.
"That's not funny." Legolas said gruffly. To him having to see his father's healers was a sentence worse than death.
"Wasn't it?" She smiled evilly at them.
The three friends started off on a beautiful pre-spring day. There was still a small amount of snow on the ground, but the ever-increasing sunshine was melting it quickly. This time they took the longer route through Mirkwood across the Old Forrest Rode. Atavus enjoyed walking through the woods. They reminded her of Ithilien in a way. Ithilien had been dark, being so close to Mordor, but it still held it's inner beauty. The voices of the trees had made living there easy for her. She had been blessed with the elven ability to speak to the trees, just as the Silvan elves in Mirkwood had, and she had found that the Mirkwood trees were not much different than the Ithilien trees had been. As they left the forest she said her farewells to the trees, and they in return rustled their leaves in response.
They spent most of the days with the men telling her of more of their adventures, and she in turn, would tell them of the pranks her and Garin had pulled on the orcs of Minas Morgul. She felt happy to be able to look back on that time and remember the small good things instead of just the bad.
It seemed to Atavus that all was right and good with her life, but little did she know that her life would soon take a very wrong turn.
"I want them alive." The orc commanded his followers. "Separate them and then take them down one by one." The orc had waited watching the Old Forrest Road, knowing that they would eventually have to come that way to return to Rivendell. When they had passed he had ordered his orcs to follow them leaving plenty of room so the elf would not be able to sense their presence. He waited until they had started over the high mountain pass, knowing that to fight a wood elf in a forest was unwise. They would have a better chance in the mountains.
His orcs had taken them once before, and he knew with the trio outnumbered more than twenty to one he could do it again. They thought he was dead. That would also work to his favor. He hadn't died though, but when the Nazgul returned to find his prisoners gone, along with most of his slaves, he had wished that he were. But things were different now. He wasn't working for the Nazgul. He and his men had left Dol Guldur, and now lived in the caves that were not very far from the mountain pass. But he wanted his revenge. He would torment and then kill the three friends for what they had done to him.
Legolas paused sensing something wasn't right. Estel had seen that look on his friends face before. "What is it Legolas?"
"We are not alone." He answered.
At that moment a loud growling noise was heard, as dozens of orcs swarmed at them from the rocks above. They were surrounded on both sides of the path by large boulders, and there was little chance of escaping the attack. Their only choice was to fight. They started the fight with all three of them standing back to back, but the orcs were following their new masters orders, and managed to separate the three warriors. Legolas bounded on top of a nearby boulder shooting arrows down to the path taking out as many orcs as he could. Atavus had chosen a boulder opposite of where Legolas was, joining in the fun of targeting the orcs. Estel unfortunately could not scale the boulders so he stayed on the path using his sword to dismember the oncoming orcs.
Estel was almost overrun with the monsters at the moment and they were picking them off as fast as possible. Atavus reached back to her quiver to draw another arrow, but there was nothing there. "Ai, never enough arrows when you need them." She looked to Legolas signaling that she was out, and then dove into the fray below, with sword drawn, ready to continue the fight. Legolas still had a few arrows left, so he continued to aim at the beasts below.
The orcs were finally beginning to thin out for the moment. Atavus had just decapitated one of the larger orcs when she heard a noise from above. She looked up to see Legolas being carried off by an orc. He had been concentrating so close to the battle below that he had missed the presence of the orc behind him, and was knocked unconscious.
"Estel." She yelled. When she had his attention she pointed above. Estel could see the predicament that Legolas was in, but neither of them could break away from the battle just yet.
It took several more moments for them to dispense with the rest of the orcs, precious moments that they could not afford to spare. They immediately took off in the direction that the orc had gone.
"What do you mean you could only capture one?" Uglúk screamed at the orc who had brought the unconscious elf into his cave.
"Captain, they were too skilled. They killed all of the orcs that I took with me." The underling answered in fear.
"The three of them killed almost sixty of your finest soldiers. How?" The captain was furious.
"The elf and the girl had a better vantage point than we did. They were able to pick off at least thirty-five of my warriors with their bows. I was able to sneak behind the elf and club him."
"Get out of my sight. Round up the rest of the troop and go out looking for them. If you come back empty handed you will take their place in my torture chamber." The captain snarled.
"What are we going to do? It is impossible to track the orc who took Legolas over this rocky ground, and there are hundreds of caves in this area that they can hide in." Estel could hear the desperation in Atavus' voice.
"We will find him. Don't give up hope." Estel tried to reassure her. At that moment they heard the sound of many feet rushing towards them. "Hide."
Atavus saw that the orc who led the troop looked very much like the one who had taken Legolas. She began to leave their hiding place behind the boulders, but Estel held her back. "No they don't have him. We must go the way they came from and try to find him."
"But Estel, that is the orc who took him. If we can question him, maybe we can discover where Legolas is." Atavus argued pointing at the orc leading the small troop. "There are less than a dozen. We can take them."
Estel hadn't gotten as good a look at the orc who took Legolas as Atavus had, and besides that, to him all orcs looked the same. Ugly. Atavus had spent many years studying the orcs. She knew their distinguishing marks. She could tell them apart easily, and that was the orc who took her friend.
"All right. We rush them on three." He said starting to count.
"Three." Atavus yelled leaving the cover of the boulder. Estel couldn't believe that Legolas called him reckless. Compared to Atavus he considered himself to be cautious. He followed her, and they attacked. It was quick work disposing of the small band of orcs, and they were careful not to kill the leader.
The beast was wounded but Estel was sure it would live. "Where have you taken our friend?" He said placing the tip of his sword to the orcs throat.
"You will never find him." Was the creature's only answer.
"If you don't tell me I will slice your neck." He warned.
"That would be a much easier death than the one I would receive if I told you."
"Who holds him?" Estel decided to try a different approach.
"One who wishes to kill you."
Estel was becoming frustrated. The orc was talking in riddles and they weren't getting any of the information they needed.
"I'll tell you what. If you don't tell me I'll let you go, and when we find who holds him I will say you told us. Whoever it is can hunt for your blood, if I don't kill him first." Estel threatened. He was surprised to see the look of fear cross the orcs face, and was even more surprised when the orc lunged forward spearing itself on Estel's sword.
"Ai, what kind of being could instill this much fear in one who cares for nothing?" He wondered as he pulled his sword from the creature.
"I don't know, but I hate to think of what it might be doing to our friend." Atavus said scanning the mountainside. "Come we have some caves to search."
Legolas' mind was foggy as he came back around. He was in a dark room that had but one small candle burning in the corner. His hands were bound in front of him and they were attached to some kind of leather harness that was around his bare chest. There were straps that went around his stomach, and over both his shoulders. They fastened to a metal latch in the center of his back. He found that a chain ran from the wall and attached to the latch in the harness. He could not reach the latch with his hands bound to the front of the harness, the way they were. There was no way to remove the harness that he could see.
He looked around the small room and for the first time realized that he was actually in a cave. He hated caves. He wondered if his friends had escaped or if they were being held like him somewhere in the cave system.
He didn't have to wonder long. "Your friends will never find you here. We are deep inside the mountain range." He knew that voice. But it was impossible. Atavus had killed him. But no there he was walking into the room sneering at the elf. "You will remain my guest for quite some time Your Highness."
"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" The elf asked sarcastically.
"The freak tried, but yet again she failed to defeat me." The orc smiled smugly. "But that's okay. Soon I will have my favorite plaything back and I'll have you to thank for it. For you are the bait in my trap elf."
Legolas jerked forward, wanting nothing more than to wrap his hands around the orcs throat and choke the life right out of him. But to his surprise when he reached the end of the chain he could feel sharp pain running along the leather straps of the harness." He winced in pain pulling back. He looked down and could see blood running down his stomach and chest from underneath the straps.
"Do you like your new outfit? There are razor sharp pieces of metal imbedded into the underside of the straps. Every time you pull against the harness, it will cut deeper into your skin, and there really is no way for you to free yourself. We use them to train young wargs. Fitting that it is used on an animal like you." The orc just leaned against the wall watching the hateful look that the elf was giving him.
"Why don't you just give it up? Don't you have anything better to do than tormenting us?" Legolas asked, but he knew his words would make no difference to the orc.
"No actually I don't." Was the orcs answer as he left the room.
Legolas looked up imagining the stars that he could not see through the tons of rock. "Why, why Ilúvatar would you submit us to this again? What have we done to deserve this vile creatures obsession?"
Well that's the end of chapter one. What do you think? I'm not sure if I will be updating quite as fast with this story. I want to take my time and get it right. I noticed when I read over Blood For the Taking after it was all done that I made a lot of grammatical mistakes, and I want to take more time to avoid that with this story. I am going to go back and fix those mistakes soon, but for now I'll get this fic started in the right direction.