Chapter 11

Fortunately for Estel, the first orc that came was pretty dumb.

Unforunately, the rest weren't.

The first one underestimated the boy, charging blindly into him and allowing the ten year old boy to duck down easily and find a weakness in the orc's armour, a field of bare flesh above the neck. Estel made a clean cut, sticking the knife in and out in one move so smooth, it even surprised himself. The blade came out with a sickening, reddish black color.

He hoped the rest underestimated him that way but unfortunately, they seemed to learn from their fallen comrade's mistake. One of them sneaked towards him with incredible agility and after a while of blocking and ducking, the orc managed to slash at his arm...the blade wasn't poisoned though, thank Valar. Estel realized, as he was ducking and blocking not only this orc's but the others' hits as well, that there was no way he could beat them in skill. He needed to use trickery.

Sliding away from the crowd, he grabbed a nearby rock and lunged towards the one he had first been attacked by. He threw the stone at the orc's face, once again picturing Legolas' annoying (and traitorous, he added to the list of words to describe the elf) and for a brief moment, distracted the orc. Grabbing this opportunity, the boy stepped forward and stabbed the orc in its stomach and he quickly sped away to fight the rest as the orc fell down with a grunt.

Two lunged at him at the same time, their axes so sharp they looked like they could cut his head off like a watermelon...not like Estel was going to stay and watch to see if that happened though. Just as they were about to pierce him, he ducked and slid away, watching as they killed each other and fell down with their axes in the floor.

The boy grinned in satisfaction at his four kills so far. If he came out of this alive, he'd have a lot to brag about to the twins. His smile disappeared though, when he saw the overflowing waves of orcs coming towards him and soon, he could barely see his surroundings. It was all a blur of black and gray as he tried to twist and chop his way through. They were surrounding him now, groups of five and six with mean smiles and twisted weapons. Gritting his teeth to ignore the bruises and cuts he was getting, his plan was to resist as much as he could and try to hit back. It was defense time now and he threw everything he could at the orcs: rocks, knives...even twigs!

It wasn't enough though, he realized, as he was soon pushed into the bark of a tree with ease.

Orcs surrounded him, grinning hungrily and soon, in the midst, standing right above Estel, was the orc who had argued with Bulgan's second in command, otherwise known as Darfu. His sword looked bloody...so it gave Estel an idea of what happened to Bulgan's (whoever that was) second in command. The orc leaned closer to the boy, his yellow teeth crooked and inches off his face.

"Well, well...what do we have here? A fleshy, juicy boy at our disposal."

"KILL HIM!" cheered one orc next to him.

"ROAST HIM FIRST!" added the other one.

"SCREW THE TROUBLE! EAT HIM ALIVE!" said another.

Estel wasn't particularly fond of any of those options.

Darfu growled and looked at the three who spoke and then back to Estel. "Silence you fools! Well, well...what would a human be doing so far and lonely away from his little village? You've been causing us quite some trouble you know, we've chased you for a long time..." He sniffed the boy, causing Estel to gag and the orc smiled. "But it was worth it I suppose. You have a different smell, a very good smell..."

Many orcs surrounding him lick their mouths and Estel did the only thing that was left to do.

He spat at the orc.

The orc hissed as he went up to wipe the saliva from his face and Estel scowled. "Go deal with someone of your intelligence, filth! If I'm going to be eaten by something, I'd rather for it to be anything but you."

The orc scowled back and brought a hand up to slap the boy, it was quick but it still burned against his cheek. "You insolent little bastard! I'll see that your death is-" The orc stopped though, as suddenly, from the trees, a rather strange battle cry came out:

"FOR THE TREEEEEEES!"

Legolas appeared and with a vine (Fangorn seemed to have lots of those) swung himself, knocking down four orcs in the way, including the three who had spoken and Darfu himself. He helped Estel up and then grabbed his bow, using it as a bat as he struck it against the orcs who had recovered from their surprise. Estel got up and once again, started slashing his knife and eventually, they both stood back to back, fighting off the orcs.

"Thank you I suppose, almost thought you'd left me back there," shouted Estel, amidst the roaring and chaos the orcs were causing.

"Nay, I'm not that cruel, although it was pretty tempting," shrugged Legolas. "I just needed to go to do something quick."

"Do what?" frowned Estel as he hacked three times and finally cut the head off an orc.

"I was sending a message," explained Legolas casually.

"What? You were sending a bloody message? You idiot! While you were sending a message, I was hear fighting off these bloody orcs and almost getting bloody killed!" exclaimed Estel, stopping abruptly from fighting to turn and glare at the elf. "They wanted to roast me alive!"

"Relax adan and go back to fighting," said Legolas, as he forced Estel to turn around and keep stabbing the orcs. "They weren't going to eat you anyway. Those orcs must have had some pretty bad nose problems because you smell like you went swimming in a pile of dung."

"Oh shut up."

"It's true!" insisted the elf, whacking an orc down.

"Whatever," grunted Estel, struggling to keep up with the two orcs that were trying to poke him with their spears. "How in Mandos did you send the message anyways?"

"The trees," shrugged Legolas.

"The trees?" frowned Estel. "Legolas, if this is some kind of joke-"

"No it isn't," said Legolas, in a complete sober voice. "Do you know how hard it is to find a decent tree in this place? It took me an eternity-"

"We're in a bloody forest! Why would it be hard to find a tree?" snapped Estel with an annoyed tone as he finally stabbed the orc he was trying to hit. Although as a price he had a new, small bruise right under his ribs.

"I said a good tree, not just any tree. Please Estel, even the elflings in Mirkwood know better than you," said Legolas rolling his eyes, whacking more orcs although they were starting to overwhelm them as well. "First of all, most of the trees here are so old, that they've basically been hibernating for the last few centuries, so I'm not going to be rude and wake them up. Cranky trees are very unhelpful, I speak from experience. Second of all, some trees have been strangely corrupted...and we already know who's been doing that. Some of them are turning like the ones at home...well, not exactly. They're not corrupted with darkness...just something else, which is strange. So if I used those trees to send messages, chances are that I'm calling for more orcs to come, not help-"

"Just great!" grumbled Estel as he tiredly swung his knife around, not only were the orcs overwhelming them, they were crushing him, literally. They threw themselves on Estel and eagerly swung their weapons in order to chop the boy into pieces...and they could've, if it weren't for the boy's speed and agility, which were slowly fading with fatigue.

"But I didn't, I chose a good tree. That's the key for finding a good tree to relay your message: nice, medium-aged...maybe a few ten thousands years old is good, nice strong bark, a good hint of moss, green leaves and a soothing voice," said Legolas then he rolled his eyes once again, although Estel could barely see him now with the orcs crushing them both. "Please Estel, you should be grateful that you know this straight from a woodland elf, it might be very helpful."

"I don't care about the bloody trees! When is our backup coming?" exclaimed Estel, slowly running out of air. "I'm not doing so good over here!"

"Me neither," replied Legolas, although Estel could barely hear him now. "Just hang on tight over there child and try to resist!"

Estel normally would've argued about the 'child' thing...although he decided to ignore it and to continue pushing the orcs back. He wasn't a baby, that was for sure...but he wasn't a man either, so he supposed he didn't deserve that title yet. Besides, he knew Legolas was probably thousands of years older than him, calling him 'child' was probably legit.

He was cut off that however, as his shoulder was suddenly on fire. A knife had been embedded there and with a hiss, Estel yanked it off and growled at the creature, using the knife he had been stabbed with to stab the creature back. Now armed with two weapons, Estel kicked and slashed his way out of the three orcs that were surrounding him. Quickly stumbling forward, he looked around and found Legolas, who was merciless whacking five visibly pissed orcs.

"Legolas!" The elf briefly looked up and dodged a sword as he heard his name being shout by Estel and his eyes widened as the human threw the knife at him. It went right across, wobbling in the air and landed a few feet away from Legolas, sticking out of the grass. Grinning in delight, Legolas dashed over there and before he could get his foot chopped, he grabbed the knife and stabbed it in the orc's face.

Not a few minutes later, Legolas reappeared next to Estel. They looked at their surroundings, scanning the quantity of orcs left...and much to their disfortune, they were still enough of them to outnumber them.

"It was good meeting you Estel," Legolas said as the orcs formed a circle around them. "Guess I'll finally have the opportunity to punch Mandos in his face."

"I suppose. Give him my regards as well, will you?"

"Certainly, and you know what else I'm going to say? That he is one big-"

Suddenly, there were a few grunts and the sounds of horse hooves against the ground and from afar, Estel watched as a rider approached on a gray horse, holding out a huge sword. In wonder, Estel watched as swiftly swung his blade and cut three orc heads while his horse's hooves plunged into another's face. The boy turned to Legolas, who was smiling as if he knew precisely who it was. The hooded rider made a path through the circle of orcs and stopped abruptly next to them.

"Get on, Thranduilion," the figure, most likely an ellon, said gruffly.

"How convenient! I didn't know you lived here!" smiled Legolas as he literally pushed the boy on the horse. The boy squirmed in his seat behind Legolas' friend (and a strange one at that), who rode like most elves, without saddle. And there was also something scary about this guy, but well, Legolas had once looked scary to him...and looked how he turned out. "Seems like you are still a nature addict by heart."

"Get on or get your head cut off, your choice," snapped the figure. Then he threw Legolas a quiver full of fresh made arrows, grunting. "By the way, have this."

"Why, thank you!" said Legolas grinning and then he rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Orcs, let's have some fun!"

O-O-O

They left a trail of dead orcs.

The stranger scowled at them both as they stopped abruptly and hopped off the horse, looking behind them. Estel realized they'd stopped at a wooden hut. It was below a giant oak tree and was covered in vines, rocks and leaves, which was good camouflage material. The walls looked wobbly but as he touched them, they were unusually stable. He ran his fingers across the house when the stranger, an elf, turned to him and snapped in the common tongue, as if he were afraid he couldn't understand,

"Hey, boy, don't touch that!"

Immediately, Estel took his hand off and watched as Legolas came forward, having yanked some of the arrows from all of the orcs' bodies. He had on a carefree grin, despite the fact he almost died back there and put a hand on the mysterious stranger's shoulder. "Aw, come on Silad. Don't be angry at the child."

"Angry? Angry at the child? Of course I should! He's your sidekick and anybody or anything related to you means trouble. I should've just let you rot back there," growled the elf. "But no...you are kind of right. I shouldn't be angry at him, I should be angry at you!"

"Oh please, don't exaggerate. I haven't burned the kitchen in like, half a century. Count that as an improvement," said Legolas rolling his eyes.

The elf raised his arms in anger as if to argue back and a sudden, strong gust of wind came out of nowhere. The hood fell off and Estel watched as the face came out...and his mouth hung open. The elf, was beautiful. Not like he loved him or anything, ew. But he was strangely beautiful. Like a piece of art, a fragile pot. He didn't have the handsome, slim features Legolas had but he could also be considered handsome. He had long silver hair with braids overflowing down his back and with a pair of steely gray eyes...he had never seen hair like that.

The elf, Silad, grunted about having his face discovered but discarded his cloak on a basket his horse had and turned to Legolas, "Whatever. But you shouldn't even have this child! Someone of his race and so young shouldn't be with you. That's like giving him a death sentence! Unless..." Then the elf gagged, looking horrified. "Is he yours?"

"Valar, NO!" frowned Legolas. "You idiot! I would never do such thing! He's just some random boy I found in a forest about to get killed by orcs. So I saved him and he was stuck with me since we were being chased by orcs."

"I can hear what you're saying, you know!" exclaimed Estel, shuddering. He and Legolas looked nothing alike! How in Arda could someone think of that?

The elf frowned at him. "Y-You speak Sindarin?"

"Of course I do," said Estel rolling his eyes. "I'm no fool."

"Yes, but-"

"Silad, you've seen more exaggerated things. Don't look surprised. Besides, there's something else I am in need of," said Legolas, his tone now somber. "Since you've probably been patrolling this area, I wanted to know if there has been any particularly large orc group passing by."

Silad frowned, crossing his strong arms. "Maybe I have. How large are we talking about?"

"Hundreds maybe. A small army."

"Actually...yes, I have seen one pass by but four nights ago. I spied them a few miles away from where we stand in a tall hill. They have set camp there and have ever since. They stand approximately two hundred orcs strong. I wished to do something about it but I had no elves to do so," said Silad gravely and then scowled. "Why are you asking this? Don't tell me this is some mad fool's quest of yours!"

Oh, you have no idea, thought Estel.

"No, they have something that belongs to the woodland realm. I have been tasked to return it to its rightful owner. Show me where this place is," said Legolas.

Silad stared at him quizzically, as if he couldn't believe Legolas was being sober and then he turned around, gesturing them inside his cabin. "Come inside. Both of you."

The cabin inside was ample. The kitchen and the living room were attached and there were others doors too. It was simple, with homemade furniture like wooden chairs and tables, hammocks for couches, unlike the glorious decorations of Imladris. And yet Estel yearned to sleep in a real bed tonight. Silad closed the door behind them and made Estel some porridge, telling him to rest well. After all, he was only a child and didn't have the elvish vitality. As he ate, he eavesdropped on Silad and Legolas, who were arguing and pointing at locations in a map. Eventually, the conversation led to this:

"Not to be offensive or anything, but I don't think you're going to be able to do this. I mean, two hundred orcs! How in the world do you expect to enter their compound?"

"Why does everybody say that? I can do this! Besides, I'll do it at night and I'll sneak in and get it out. Orcs aren't exactly organized creatures."

"Yes, but they do have patrols you know! And if there are two hundred orcs, there must be at least thirty of them in each night patrol! And even if you shoot a few, the others aren't completely stupid. They'll realize their friends are dead and call for more. This is madness!"

"Madness is what I am, or else this really wouldn't work out," said Legolas. "Which it will."

Silad sighed. "Still, think it well. You have most of the afternoon and night to think about it. Besides, I'd recommend for you to do it in a few days. Come on, have conscience-"

"Conscience? Don't lecture me on conscience, your conscience got you banished!" Legolas said, having a battle of glares with Silad."Of course I have conscience! And it tells me we strike tonight."

Silad looked as if he wanted to punch Legolas right there, right now and right in the face. Apparently banishment wasn't a pretty subject. His eyes burned, his nose flared, his face scowled. And yet he took a deep sigh, gave a glare and turned towards the door, his sword at hand. "Well, at least I've learned more humility here in the nature. Something your arrogant arse might want to have more of. I'm going to go chop some wood, to BURN some things. You know, like the trail of dead orcs you left as a beacon to MY HOUSE? And don't BURN IT!"

And before Legolas could respond hotly, Silad left.

The elf turned to Estel, sighing. "Sorry you had to hear that. Told you following me wasn't one of the wisest choices ever."

"I can tell," said the boy warily. "I just can't believe that elf thought I was your...son. We look nothing alike. And I thought he had some decent brains. Besides, why did he act so disgusted? I mean, I should be offended but never would I look so..."

"I get you, my hair is way more fabulous than yours," joked Legolas, although he didn't sound really amused and earned no laughs. He dragged a barstool and sat next to Estel's hammock. "The thing is, Estel, that elves and men haven't been in the best terms since the War. We've mostly ceased all connections, unless it's about trading I guess. Any relationships with humans are...scandalous."

"Why?" He blurted it out. He didn't know why. He knew it was Isildur's fault...but perhaps something in his heart hoped. Hoped it hadn't been him, a Man like him. Hoped he wasn't burdened with such shame. And even if his race was at fault...he wished it wasn't.

"We all have personal issues with them I guess. I, myself, ran into some bad business with some adan farmers when I was young. Mostly mischief I brought to myself but even now, I disagree with some of their beliefs. But that's not serious. You see, I'm not supposed to tell you what I'm about to, but...here goes nothing," sighed Legolas and Estel could tell another story was coming up. "You see, my older brother...he used to be in love with this mortal woman."

Estel frowned. "Did they keep it in secret?"

"Yes, he hid it from my father and us all. Every two weeks, he'd go orc hunting down in our borders. Of course, he did actually go hunt some orcs since it's pretty fun but he'd spent half of that time visiting that mortal woman...and eventually, he realized he was in love with this woman. He wanted to marry her...and they did. My brother, being the oldest, stole our family ring and gave it to her to wear it, as it is customary of the firstborn. Those days we saw him happier than ever and he never gave us explanation...but we didn't mind, he had always been a pretty cheery person. And so they kept at it for a few months until suddenly, the woman was pregnant and my brother was to be a father."

Estel's mouth hung open for a minute but then he shut it. Opening your mouth was a very rude thing that his mother always chastised. "Oh. What about your father?"

Legolas sighed. "Now, of course with such a big thing coming up, he would have to tell my father. But he didn't plan on it yet. Then, the unexpected happened. Some villages in our southern borders where being sacked. I mean, I know it's incredibly dumb to settle your village there but...some elves just aren't really bright. So my brother and a hundred others were deployed there to retaliate the against a new fortress of orcs there. Everybody guessed it'd take a month but with my brother's great commanding, they defeated the orcs one week earlier and with minimum casualties."

"And he was too busy to visit the woman in all that time, right?"

"Right," said Legolas, his face turning sad. "My brother spent a few days in the healing room because of some burns and broken bones. But then, one day, he decided to go visit the woman. And when he arrived at her house, he opened the door and saw her...with another, a secret lover."

"Ouch," said Estel.

"Ouch," agreed Legolas. "He was heartbrokened. He took back the ring, although she insisted it wasn't what it was...but that's what they always say. And he didn't even know if the child was his! So he left and never returned to her again."

"That's tragic," said Estel. "But I have a question...how come you know this? Wasn't this a 'secret' relationship?"

"I'm not finished yet. One day, I was on my border patrol when there was smoke in the distance. I grabbed half of my soldiers and went off to check. Turns out orcs had sacked a nearby human village and had burned it to the ground..." Legolas paused, taking a breath and Estel didn't like where this was going. "Normally we do not meddle with others but I had pity that day. We went there and tried to see if we could save anybody. It proved futile. Until I found a woman, carrying a burned up bundle with blond hair, dying with severe third degree burns and raping."

Estel was afraid to ask but he knew. "W-Was it the woman your brother loved?"

"Yes. Apparently my brother had told her about me a lot and she asked me and I told her. She died in my arms and her last words were to tell my brother 'he would have been a beautiful blond little boy' and...they died. Simple as that. Her journal, surprisingly, was in readable condition and that's how I learned who this woman was. Turned out that 'lover' of hers was just a cousin and that the child was really my brother's. I confronted him and he told me the full story."

"So she wasn't lying...it wasn't her fault! Your brother abandoned her!" cried Estel.

"Hey, how was he going to know he was her cousin? He couldn't have known. Besides, he was devastated. He never loved again. Never married until this day, much to my father's dismay and confusion. Never planned to court anybody. And he even refused to meet any Men, not even the traders from Laketown who came into our city. The sight of Men would always remind him of his mistake and it would always cause him pain...his eternal curse."

Estel was quiet for a second, the porridge suddenly feeling a bit too lumpy and then swallowed, saying, "Wow...that's terrible."

"Definitely," said Legolas standing up. "All right, I've got to go pack stuff for tonight. I'm sure you-being the same little stubborn idiot you are-are going to follow me, right?"

"Obviously."

"I knew it. Silad will disagree I know, but he's always been a soft-heart for nature. I'll persuade him to think decently," said Legolas and was about to go away when suddenly, Estel cried out.

"Wait! I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Y-You said...he got banished. Why? I mean, elves usually don't get banished. And he isn't living in any of the three elven kingdoms. That must have been a terrible crime. What did he do?"

Legolas sighed. His voice turned a bit more quiet, more hushed. Carefully, he looked back to make sure Silad, their host, wasn't just going to storm in suddenly to interrupt them and then he shrugged, his voice trailing carefully but casually.

"Er...nothing too major. Killed a few elves. That's all."

O-O-O

AN: MUUURRDDDEEER! Hahaha, just kidding. Silad's actually really nice. I've been DYING to introduce him. He's a character in another story I'm going to make (go to my profile to see my plan so far) but that'll be maybe next year. This year I plan to finish this story (I'll finish it by September I think), The Spring Festival and hopefully I'll start and finish a new one called "Rose with Thorns!"

Anyways, I AM SO SORRY GUYS! I haven't updated in what, a week, two? I have been REALLY busy with school. Three schedules changes, brand new teachers, a bottom locker (did I already tell you how much I dislike that?), homework, classes, my journalism elective, two assessments, a project coming up, a quiz coming up...and it's barely the first week!

So in order to reward your patience, awesome readers, I have two chapters instead of one! Haha...I know you guys deserve like, three or four but this is kind of the best I could do, squeezing time and all. The second chapter will come a while after this one, so be patient.

Okay, so now you guys are getting closer to the big climax...or well, one of the climaxes. I promise the story won't exceed 20 chapters, or at least I don't try to. So tonight Legolas is going to start his quest. And I know some people might not like math like me (although I am good at it, I'm in an AP class...thanks mom!), let's see if you can solve this:

200 HUNDRED ORCS + SNEAKING IN + RETRIEVING A SPECIAL OBJECT + MANDOS' HATE + POSSIBLE CHANCE OF DEATH + ESTEL'S BAD LUCK + A LOT OF DANGER =

Yup, you got it right. Trouble.

REVIEWS EVERYBODY! Thanks for y'all's support! :D

Masked Man 2: Thanks for all the compliments! Hahaha...funniest battle huh? ;) I suppose I should be flattered! And hahaha...yes, I did pack a lot of emotion in it. And these two were particularly hilarious in that chapter, I admit. And you know how to throw shruikens and knives? That is SO COOL! LOL, I wonder what your sister thinks of your aiming method! And yes, I don't think Legolas really has a choice with Estel. And again, yes! Your prediction is very close to what I'm thinking but not quite. Wait and see!

Saphira: Hahaha, that dialogue! :D And yes, Estel is pretty annoying. As one of the reader's said, 'stereotype human being.' But he is pretty badass, admit it. And nope, he didn't go to Treebeard...he just threw himself into danger. *Sigh* Were you surprised? They do have a great uncanny ability to attract orcs. That is not going to be good for the quest. And yes, the BIG revelation will be hilarious! And I will try to write more, thanks for all the compliments! :) BTW: That Aragorn and Elrond father-son story you requested? It will be up soon!

Luin: Haha, kind of a cliffhanger, yes. And no, as annoying as Estel is, Legolas' heart is just too good. And no, you're right. It was delayed. SCHOOL being SCHOOL. I do apologize, I'm trying the best I can to update. And the flashback...haha, yes, I didn't put a flashback here but I'll put one soon. And thanks! :) I will also try updating The Spring Festival!

Guest: To send a message through the trees! LOL! :D That's the Middle-Earth way of texting I guess!

Schattenjagd: LOL! Hahaha...you are hilarious! Alll those thoughts of yours are so funny! I might actually borrow a few, including the 'why doesn't my father approve of my hobby?' one! LOL! I don't know why you're asking me on humour tips...really, you've already nailed it down! Besides, all this humour I get is basically based on the books I read and most of my friends, who are already mad. I am actually a pretty shy and serious person, believe it or not. I'm glad you like my dialogue! And oh, I really like your Mandos idea! ;)

Guest: Thanks! :D I'm glad you're liking it so far!