Thank you already for some lovely reviews especially 'weepingangel9578', what you wrote is so kind and I'm so glad you are enjoying my stories!

His eyes blearily opened but abruptly closed again at the discomfort. They were sore and painful; he tried again, fighting against his heavy eyelids. He managed to keep them open for a considerable amount of time but the dizziness that assaulted his head did not aid to his vision. He gasped quietly at the nausea that hit him as he fought to keep his vision intact, it took a few good minutes but eventually he became the victor. The nausea still ailed him but at last he could see clearly. The first thing he noticed was that he was lying on a cold dark stone floor, it was so cold that it felt wet, although he was not sure if that was the case or perhaps he was perspiring. This was when he noticed the second and third thing; he was not perspiring, in fact the location he was at was very cold and in the process of wiping his hand over his face to check for perspiration he discovered that his hands were bound by metal cuffs. They were tight around his wrists and they stung when he began to pathetically remove them, he studied the craftwork and felt a chain attached to them, he tugged at the chain and discovered that it ran back to a cold wall. He sighed at his problem and decided it was probably best to try and sit up. Very carefully his rose up fighting off his dizziness and nausea, when he had done this he checked his body for any further injuries, he patted his legs down for cuts and this the same for his body; fortunately he seem to be unscathed the only real problem coming he faced was nausea which he was sure was from the poison.

'Poison?' he thought

He suddenly realised what had happened. They were attacked but by who? He remembered that Sam and Frodo had managed to escape but where were the others? A thousand questions ran through his mind before eventually asking himself, where was he? Still seated he suddenly took in his surroundings. It was a cold dark room, ahead of him were metal bars and a metal door, right at the top of the walls were small windows which let in the smallest amount of light possible. He was in a prison cell. Whoever had captured him and his friends had locked them in this place. He stood up and walked to the metal bars that stood between him and freedom; there was another cell opposite the one he was in but from what he could see the cell was empty. He looked further down the hallway; there were no more cells but instead there was a small open planned area with a few chairs and a table, the lighting was still dim but behind the open plan area was a door. Perhaps that door leads to outside he thought, or maybe we are within a fortress. Overcome with questions and worry he slumped down into the corner of the cell and stared at the opposite side, unaware of what he was about to see.

'Aragorn!?' a small voice asked

'Is that you Merry' replied Aragorn rising up from his slouched position in the corner

'Yes it is me!' he said slightly more settled

Aragorn crawled over to the other corner next to Merry, 'Are you alright?'

Merry nodded, 'I am fine, I feel sick though and my neck is sore'

Aragorn's hand although bound checked the hobbits neck and found no serious injury, 'Where are the others Merry?'

Merry smiled

'What?' he asked confused

Merry turned his head and motioned Aragorn to look. In the darkest corner of the cell lay four unconscious figures who were also bound. Aragorn sighed with relief before questioning whether his vision had truly returned back to its full strength.

'I have not seen Frodo or Sam though'

Aragorn was quick to face Merry, 'I let them go Merry, they escaped. Hopefully they will reach the realm of Lothlorien unscathed so they can send aid to us.'

Merry smiled gently at the man's words, it made him feel more reassured, 'Do you think they will wake up soon?'

Aragorn turned to the others, 'Yes I should hope so, they fell unconscious the same time as us they should awake soon.'

'I am awake already'

Merry and Aragorn turned to the deep voice that seemed to echo through the cell

'Gimli?' Aragorn asked hesitantly

'Aye, I am awake. I just thought resting would get rid of this nausea.'

'We are all suffering from it Gimli' added Merry, 'It will pass'

'Well good, I do not like this situation' Gimli retorted while sitting up and scooting his way over to the other two.

'Ah I see you two are also chained'

'Yes Gimli, I think we all are. Whoever put us in here clearly does not want us to escape'

'Aye Aragorn, the question is who has imprisoned us'

'I do not know Gimli; for when they attacked us they did not reveal their faces nor speak clearly.'

'Who was the last of us to fall do you think?' asked Merry

'Legolas and I were the last two fighting, I was hit with their darts and fell unconscious very quickly so I know for certain Legolas was left alone to fight, however I do not know for how long. Perhaps he spoke with them.'

'Aragorn It is no lie that I do not like elves, but even I know that one dart would not of affected the elf. We should check to see if he is injured.'

'Yes you are right Gimli, it is most likely he was struck unconscious rather than what we all experienced.'

Aragorn shuffled himself to the side of the elf and with his bound hands carefully started examining the elf for any injuries. Merry began doing the same with Pippin.

'He appears to have been stuck on his face. It is hard to see in this light, but I can feel bruising. I think he will be ok though, just sore when he wakes.'

'Owwwww!'

Gimli and Aragorn turned to Merry who looked rather startled

'Pippin?' Merry asked with a shocked expression

'Yes, who else is it going to be? I was sleeping and your fingers keep jabbing into my ribs.'

'Oh Pippin, I'm glad you are ok!' Merry reached down and hugged his cousin.

'Aragorn do you think we should rouse the other two?' Gimli questioned curiously

'I do not know my friend. I feel like we should so we can all determine together what our situation is. But if they both are still unconscious perhaps they should rest.' Aragorn pondered his decision for a moment, 'I wish to give them more rest, but I think we need to try and rouse them for all of our sakes.'

'Very well, I will tend to the elf, you see if Boromir is responsive.'

Gimli placed himself by the elf's side and gently moved him, 'Wake up'. There was no answer so he shook him again, but again there was no response. Gimli resorted to slapping each cheek, 'Wait up you pointy eared prince' however it proved useless, Legolas was not ready to wake.

'He is not awakening Aragorn, he is probably in elven healing.'

'Elven healing?' replied Pippin almost sarcastically as he sat up next to his cousin.

'Shhhhh Pippin, not so loud, we do not want them to know we are awake. Gimli if Legolas is not rousing leave him. I think Boromir is coming to'

Boromir's eyes steadily opened and looked rather shocked to see Aragorn, Gimli, Merry and Pippin staring down at him.

'Is this a dream?' Boromir asked with a deep frown on his face as he began to succumb to the throbbing headache and nausea

Aragorn smiled, 'Nay my friend I wish it was, how are you feeling?'

'Like death, why is it so dark? Where are we?'

'We do not know all we know is that we were attacked and now we are all here in this cell.' answered Gimli.

'So I am lying here bound and wearing nothing more than my undergarments. This is truly folly.'

'Undergarments?' Merry said abruptly

Aragorn, Gimli, Merry and Pippin quickly realised that indeed they had been stripped of their armour and weapons and were clad in just their tunics and trousers.

'I'm scared.'

'Do not fear Pippin, everything will be alright.' Aragorn reassured

Boromir sat up slowly and sat against the back wall beside the still unconscious elf, 'What of Frodo and Sam?'

'They got away.' Replied Merry quickly

Boromir nodded, 'Good, perhaps they will find aid. And what of Legolas, why has he not woken up?'

'Legolas is unconscious due to a heavy blow not through poison; he should wake later on, once his body has healed.'

Boromir took in Aragorn's words and nodded again, 'Very well. I guess all we can do is wait.'