This story is based on the characters of the movie/book Lord of the Rings. They belong to JRR Tolkien and whoever else has substantial claims on them. They aren't mine, but the story is mine. All mine…and Songbird's…for better or for worse anyway. All disclaimers apply. No copyright infringement is intended.

Breg just laughed when he saw the two. "Did they actually think I would leave them unguarded?" He then turned to Ouray, tossing him a pouch of coins. "You have won that wager my friend. I didn't think they would break free quite so quickly."

Turning to his men Breg's voice changed. It was now commanding, and brokered no refusal from those under his employ. "Get the cages," he ordered. "Let us see if they can escape from this." When the two metal cages had been brought on deck, they were loaded with their cargo.

"Hoist them up," he ordered. "Make sure however, that they can speak to one another. I want to see what they try next." Breg then headed back down the ramp with Ouray. He would oversee that loading of the last merchandise and set sail soon. He knew this trip had been worth his while.

Legolas was the first to wake, his now unbound hand reaching automatically for the back of his head. The lump that was forming there was painful, and his hand came away with just the slightest tingeing of red. When he looked down, he was surprised to see that he was swinging above the deck. Frantically, he looked around, only to see an unconscious Aragorn in a cage immediately to his left.

The man groaned as he fought his way back to consciousness, and when he finally opened his eyes, the world around him was spinning, and there were entirely too many boats anchored behind him. He looked up into 6 of Legolas's concerned eyes before he once again let the darkness claim him. He really did not want to see that many Elven eyes looking at him.

When he awoke some time later, the boats were moving and he, too, noticed that he was not lying on solid boat. The cages were swaying with the rocking of the boat, and that only served to make his dizziness worse. "Legolas?" He called out, hoping that he hadn't imagined the Elf beforehand.

"Yes, mellon nin, I am here. Do you feel any better than you look, you look terrible?" The Elf smiled grimly, as there was no apparent way out, and he needed Aragorn to be coherent if they were going to think of a way.

All Strider could do was groan and press his palms against his temples. "Don't even ask," was all he could choke out...

Legolas couldn't help but smile. "Just take deep breaths my friend, you will feel better soon." He laughed once again, when Aragorn mumbled something about Elves and their damned healing abilities.

It was then that a voice drifted up from below. "I'm glad you are enjoying your new accommodations. It was a great wager indeed to see how long it would take you to escape. I however did not win and may have to repay you for it."

He then turned to his men. "Lower them down," he ordered. When they were sufficiently lowered, they were handed food and drink. "I will not arrive at the games with the main attraction starved. Eat, you will find it is not poisoned." To prove his point, he took just a bit of food off each of the plates and ate it. "It would also do me no good to have you die."

Turning back to his men he continued to give orders. "When they are finished, hoist them back up."

As the two were handed their food, Aragorn eyed it nauseously, but Legolas ate it as quickly as a graceful Elf could. "You need to eat, Strider. It will make it better in the long run, and you need to keep up your strength. I fear we will need it if we end up reaching the City. I doubt that these games Breg talks about are more than the same type of fights we have been taking part in, only perhaps more evil."

Aragorn nodded. That was something he soon regretted, he decided, and started to pick at the meal. He soon found that the food still agreed with his stomach, and he finished it off slowly. He had no intention of remaining in Breg's captivity for as long as it took them to get to the City, but he did not see a feasible way out at the present time.

They were hoisted back into the air, and both watched as the sun set and the wind brought cold air through the cages. Aragorn shivered, to which Legolas mistakenly let out a small chuckle, and the man glared at his friend, mumbling something about pampered Elves, before settling in for the night.

The morning produced the same routine. They were lowered for breakfast, and then hauled back up. Aragorn was grateful to note that the other captives were also being fed. He figured Breg didn't like any of his fighters collapsing from starvation.

As the morning progressed, Legolas ventured to bring up a topic. "Strider, what are your thoughts on your two young friends."? Strider looked at Legolas and groaned.

"Since I have seen no female captives, I will guess that they are alright. Neither Ouray, nor Breg for that matter, appear to be cruel. They seem to take what they need and leave all others. This is at least my hope."

"That is my assessment as well," Legolas remarked. "Do you think they would be foolish enough to follow?"

"Yes, my friend," Aragorn sighed. "I believe they are just foolish enough."

So it went for two more days when the captives began to hear the sounds of a waterfall. "Legolas, we must be coming up on the Argonath and the Falls of Rauros. I have always wanted to see those."

"Yes, mellon nin, we are indeed getting close to there, it seems. I wonder..." he would have continued, but just then, both of their cages went plummeting to the ground and the doors popped open. Not bothering to ponder what had happened, the two jumped through and ran for the edge of the boat closest to shore. Neither had made it even halfway when they were both grabbed with such force that it threw them off their feet.

"Thought you could get away that easily did you? No, my guests, we are going below deck for a while. There are to be some games so that my crew doesn't get restless while we wait, and you two are prime candidates for this." Breg smiled evilly as more men came to drag Strider and Legolas below deck. With a last fleeting glance downstream, Strider missed the chance to look upon the Kings of old, his kin.

To the Reviewers:

Elendil – Well, looks like your impatience paid off this time…note…THIS TIME…lol…addicted are you? That's always a good thing, keeps reviews flowing into our inbox it does, and we likes reviews, yes we do…thanx for reviewing again, and no I don't know if we added to it, but we finished this story and are working on the sequel…so, I'm getting confuzzled between the two.

TC – We can't make these cliffies any worse?  Oh just you wait, they'll get worse, not to mention the ending we have planned...hahahahahaha, just you wait…but this one wasn't so bad, was it?