Haunted By His Night

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own any of the stuff (character, places, plots, general universe) from the Lord of the Rings movies or books, I just mess with them.

Haunted By His Night: Chapter 1

Estel awoke once again; plagued by nightmares of which there was no escape. His brief time with the rangers had been filled with despair, torment and misery. The torment was why he was back here in Rivendell, the despair his best kept secret. After he was found severely injured with a party of Orcs and Uruk-Hai, he was taken to the palace to be placed under the healing hands of the Elvin Lord Elrond, his foster father, his Ada. After a week or so, with the help of elvish medicine, Estel was well on the mend, at least physically.

No one knew of his nightmares, of what had happened before he had been found injured. Everyone just assumed that he had been patrolling the area and found Orcs, but they were wrong, it had not happened that way at all. He had been in the clutches of the Orcs for 2 weeks before he had been found while being transferred to a more secure location. All Estel could think was that if they had not moved him on that day, he may have stayed in the hands of the Orcs till his death.

It is nothing for a ranger to disappear for months, and for one not to return was well heard of, especially one that traveled alone. Sure his family may have missed him, but they would not have sent search, no one would have.

Still it was that no one here at Rivendell knew of the torment he had endured then, or that he endured now every night as he slept. He felt so alone. He wished he could go in and curl up near one of his brothers, but they would ask too many questions, questions he could not bear to answer. Once they finally did get the information from him they would become horrified at the prospect of their little brother being tortured. They would want him to talk about and seek counseling while he wished only to let it fade into the past. They would pity him and he knew in his heart that he did not deserve their pity, or their worries.

It was his own fault he had gotten caught. He did not hear the Orcs approaching; no elf would have been caught. His weakness as a human had betrayed him, making him realize that he would never be good enough for his family. Especially now that he had been tainted, beaten, whipped, and touched as he was. Even so he wished that he could run into his Ada's room and let all the bad dreams get chased away. It was no longer an option though, he thought with a sigh sitting up. He was no longer the child he used to be. He had to be Aragorn now, the heir of Isilduir, the strong king which would restore faith and hope to them men of middle earth. He was no longer his Adar's ion. (Father's son, as if you couldn't figure that one out)

No, there was nothing he could do, nothing but go back to sleep. If he were to appear tired in the day his family would begin questioning his lack of sleep and its cause.

With that he lie back down upon his bed and fell into a restless sleep, hoping that morning would come swiftly and without any more nightmares.