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Chapter 1 Meeting you

"Anorel! Don't run off too far."

"I know, mother!"

The young elfling ran throughout the forest like a stead. He knew where he was going: the same place as always with two great trees and a small fallen one with a lot of mushroom on it. On the same day, at the same time, or somewhere around that time, he could meet up with his friend.

He found the place a few ten meters away from his mother's usual resting place. He passed in between the two great trees trying not to be stuck in the process. When he finally got to the other side, he could hear it, the sound of the waterfall nearby, well although it wasn't much nearby, this is where he could hear it clearly from. Indeed, he once wanted to know where that sound came from and got a little adventurous. That's how both of them met.

"Hambash! Hambash!" called out the elfling as he walked deeper into the hidden small part of the forest. No one answered his call, so the child did what children knew best: constantly repeat the same call.

"Hambash! Ham…" that until a huge grey skinned hand came to be placed on the boy's jet black mane.

"Quel re!" Good day, the elfling greeted happily and was answered by a simple but glad growling of acknowledgement.

Yes, a growling of acknowledgement. The friend rarely spoke, because he thought his voice was not as melodious as the little boy's.

"En!" Look, the boy searched his trouser's pockets for something. Hambash stood there waiting for his usual surprise of the week, well actually of every two or three weeks. After a short moment, the boy finally looked up at the well cloaked friend with both of his hands holding up a…

"Acorn." Hambash did not know what to think, but he also knew he did not need to think. His little friend has brought him an acorn, and all he had to do was to accept it and thank the boy.

"Thanks." At those words, the boy's lips turned upwards into a very big and proud smile. Then, he took Hambash's gigantic hand, well, just one of his fingers, and dragged him deeper into the woods.

"Khila amin na lanthir." Follow me to the waterfall. They didn't speak the same language, but they understood each other fairly well for they have been friends for a few years. Indeed, it has been fifteen years since they have become friends.

Hambash never truly understood how this boy, thirty by age, was as tall and big as a fourteen year old human or a ten year old Uruk. The first time Hambash met him; the seemingly eight years old boy (yes, he was even smaller then) was trying something funny on top of a waterfall and fell: hit his head on a rock and almost drowned. Well, the real story is that the elfling was trying to reach for a very round and colorful apple on a tree at the edge of the waterfall. He was lithe like a bird and stepped on the thin branch like it was nothing. Unfortunately for him, some big bird got the same idea, and that's how it happened: the branch broke and he fell off the falls where some rocks and a strong current waited for him.

Hambash had been watching the whole time. At first, he wanted to leave quickly when he started smelling non-animal scent. He did not want and was not in the mood to get into a fight so early in the morning. He just wanted breakfast, not that some chewy humans couldn't do it, but Hambash decided it wasn't the best choice quality versus price wise. As he was picking up his fighting, cooking and bonfire tools, he saw the boy from across the river, on the opposite hill on the other side of the waterfall. Oh, was the first unintelligible word that he thought of, and fresh meat probably the two first intelligible ones. So he just sat down as quietly as possible behind a tree and watched his new prey that he had already classified as high class which meant weak and defenceless tender fresh meat.

Yes, so he watched and waited and watched that entire earlier scenario unfold in front of him. Hambash almost thought it was funny, but he did not laugh, because he was not sure if it was funny or just plain stupid. Sure, anybody would have thought that in both case, you could laugh, but not Hambash. In his youth, Hambash's clansmen often made fun of him; said that he laughed at anything and everything whether it was funny or not, and that was because he was too dumb to sort out in his head what was funny and what was not. Since then, Hambash never laughed when he wasn't sure if something was funny or not because he was a man, well, an Uruk of certainty.

Hambash dashed with haste along the riverside and downhill to where the boy's body was being pushed and crushed by the water current. When he reached the deeper part of the water, he dived in. A short moment later, he pulled a limp body in with him back onto the green-filled shore.

The tall and burley being that he was laid the body on the grass and stared at it. Something's different, he thought. The boy's hair was unusually very black, like his actually. He grinned, but then his grin faded when he remembered his clansmen making fun of how little hair he had when he was comparing his to the human they had for dinner. He looked again at the boy. He had to admit he was jealous of that long and thick mane. Hambash then came up with a very good idea: a wig. He just needed to make a wig out of that silky hair. Then he heard the little boy stir.

He watched dumbfounded as the boy opened his eyes. Wow, Hambash thought when he saw those huge silver orbs with a flicker of green. So…? The word Hambash would have wanted to use was adorable. Unfortunatly for Hambash, he was Uruk, and Uruks did not have adorable in their dictionaries (did they even have dictionaries?). Nevertheless, Hambash thought that it was adorable. The boy looked around trying to focus his vision when his eyes fell on a cloaked man in front of him.

"Mani marte?" What happened? The boy's voice was sweet and softspoken, but what the boy said, Hambash did not have an idea, and that was a strange accent.

The boy sat up and looked at him.

"Man le?" Who are you?

Long and silky hair, fair skin, mesmerizing eyes, and that sweet voice: Hambash was starting to think he just fell upon one of those. Those that were all supposed to have gone back to the undying lands. There shouldn't be any left.

The boy said something else, perhaps something about being cold since he trembled slightly as he tried to warm himself up by hugging himself. He stood up, said something, bowed, and then started walking away. His food was walking away. Hambash could not allow that.

He went after the boy and caught him by the shoulder, very gently, well, for an Uruk. At his surprise, the boy turned around looking frightened with his already big eyes widened.

"Um."

Hambash knew that he had failed the first step at handling a high class meal. Indeed, when he was still with his clansmen, they had taught him how to handle those:

Step one: do not frighten the prey away.

Step two: gain trust and befriend.

Step three: feed the prey so it can be at its best when the time comes.

Step four: evaluate if it is better to eat it or exchange it for something else with another Uruk.

Quick witted Hambash had to act quickly to correct his mistake. Yes! Hambash would give the elf boy his cloak to keep the little one warm.

"Here you go, little elf."

The elfling looked at Hambash, not uttering a word. Hambash looked at the boy, batting his absent eyelashes, trying to look like the nice Samaritan who had just given the cloak he used to hide his not so very pretty and welcome face to help keep the boy elf warm. Hambash mentally self patted his back good job, Hambash.

That's when he was knocked out from behind and a woman was screaming from afar in a language he did not understand.

"Anorel!"

Anorel. That's a pretty name.

If you've like the chapter, please do tell so I know that is it worth updating because I am working on another story at the moment

Thank you again for reading.

Sincerely,

Zef