AN:
Thank you DreamingIn2Eternity for reviewing! Also thank you to the favoriters and followers! All the support is appreciated and cherished.
If it looks like Tolkien and sounds like Tolkien, it is Tolkien. Sentences and passages were shamefully pulled from Return of the King and its movie. They are woefully left unmarked. Feel free to play "spot the plagiarism".
The next thing Eldarion was conscious of was being hog-tied and lying on a smooth, cold stone floor. He heard the lightly echoing sounds of approaching footsteps that ceased just in front of him. The lanky boy pried open his eyes to see a pair of white-toed feet in black sandals near his face. Then the owner of the feet grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and yanked him clear off the ground.
"Hey!" Eldarion yelped, slightly woozy from the sudden change in orientation, but a finger on his lips kept him from protesting.
"I am surprised to see that you are not dead," murmured Orochimaru, a sly smile playing on his face.
"Ha-ha," growled the genin, glaring at the jōnin. "Do you have my necklace?"
With a smooth motion the serpentine man removed the jewelry from a pocket and put it around Eldarion's neck.
"If we survive this, I will tell you how we can use your necklace," Orochimaru commented with a smile. Then he unceremoniously dropped the young Gondorian to the floor.
"Ow! Could you at least put me down gently?" Eldarion complained, wincing. The shinobi merely snapped his fingers, and the "ropes" unwound and the snakes slithered back to their master. The Snake Sannin was wearing a black greatcoat with its hood up, casting his face into shadow.
"Be on your best behavior. Sauron does not usually take kindly to ill-mannered people," he said seriously, turning his back to the elf-like boy and walking away.
Eldarion gulped, but stood up, dusted off his clothes and cloak, and tucked his necklace beneath his shirt. Trembling with barely suppressed terror, he followed the shinobi across the cavernous hall. His grey eyes drank in the high, vaulted ceilings, the stone friezes of battles, and the pillars of stone, crowned with deadly points. The genin's heart pounded in his throat, as each echoing step brought him closer to a massive, ornately carved door. Then Orochimaru stopped walking so suddenly that he ran into the pale man's back.
"You are to let me pass," snarled the Snake Sannin. Eldarion, confused, looked around the jōnin. Two of the Nazgûl, decked in resplendent black robes and fine armor, stood guard at the door, just beneath two banners. They held halberds that were crossed to block access to the door. Eldarion promptly ducked behind Orochimaru, his vision already beginning to blur, and teeth chattering from the cold.
There was an angry hiss from the two wraiths, but an obliging creak as the door swung open on its iron hinges, and the halberds were drawn back. The shinobi walked forth, and the genin quickly followed him. The room they entered only differed from the hall they had left in that it was bathed in a cruel, bright light and that there was a dais and throne opposite of the door. The chill was gone, only to be replaced by an oppressive heat. Eldarion's eyes flicked around, and any windows he could spot were impossibly high up, and the only other exit was the door that he had just walked through. A whine of fear rose in his throat, and he began to pull his cloak about him and sink to the floor.
"Well, well, look what the snake dragged in," drawled a smooth, terrifying bass voice.
Eldarion immediately dropped to the floor, forgetting any pretense of bravery, and cowered beneath his cloak. He measured his breathing, trying to at least keep his calm.
"Actually, it was I who brought Eldarion Telcontar here, Lord Sauron," simpered Yuu.
"But were you not felled by this sniveling little mortal?" returned the Maia.
The Suna nin made an indignant noise of protest, sounding like an angry hen.
"However, as pathetic as you may be, you have yet to fail me. Now, Orochimaru, show me this little heir."
Eldarion felt himself get pulled upright, and his cloak fall away from his body. The lanky child could not suppress a whimper as he was forced to stare into the eyes the Lord of the Rings. He could not look away from that terrible, ancient gaze, but peered into the depths, both curious and scared. Then Sauron blinked.
"You were not lying," he whispered, looking to Orochimaru. Eldarion turned to look at the jōnin, who looked like a cat who had just caught a bird.
"Why should I be?" replied the shinobi in the smuggest tone possible.
The Dark Lord glared at him. "I suppose that you want to keep him alive, do you not?"
"Please refrain from killing me," Eldarion whispered, trembling so badly that his knees were knocking together.
Yuu began to laugh, hard. "Please!" he gasped between guffaws. "Do explain why we should keep the mule alive."
"Because I have more use to the Deceiver alive rather than dead, unlike some reanimated sack of bones here," the Gondorian spat, managing to suppress his trembling for the duration of his rebuttal.
"Indeed?" Sauron slouched in his throne, his utterly terrifying face issuing a challenge to the elf-like boy. "Enlighten me."
Eldarion quailed, unable to gather enough fortitude to meet the challenge. The temperature rose in the room as Sauron became more displeased.
"Elessar has the Ring, does he not?" offered Orochimaru nonchalantly. "And he can turn said Ring against you, can he not?"
"Yes," The Necromancer snarled, his steepled hands tensing. "What does that have to do with his issue?"
"You know better than any other what happens to whoever possesses the Ring, they simply cannot let it go. Thus, when he defeats you, all you have to do is lie low, and wait for Elessar to die." Continued the Snake Sannin.
A sudden understanding of the jōnin's plan sparked in Eldarion's mind. "I will inherit the Ring," he whispered. "You would have to get to me to get to the Ring."
Sauron shifted in his throne. "All you have succeeded in doing is telling me why I should kill you, mutt."
Eldarion grit his teeth, mustered his courage, and gave his most venomous glare to the Dark Lord, even as his vision swam.
"I can be the bargaining chip that guarantees the safety of your precious ring," he snarled. "You can influence Elessar through the Ring to keep a hold of it. What you cannot do is convince others not to destroy it after they see what it has done to him. My life and safety is the ring's safety and your life."
Silence descended upon the throne room, and Eldarion realized just what he had proposed, and who he had proposed it to.
A large, eldritch grin took over Sauron's horrifying face. "I should not underestimate the House of Elendil," crooned the malevolent being. "You do justice to your lineage, little one."
Eldarion promptly fainted.
‡‡‡*‡‡‡*‡‡‡
When the adopted Uchiha once again came to, it was to the worried fussing of Luhtindë and Loenil.
"Are you alright Gîl?" fretted Loenil. "Did the Necromancer do anything to you?"
"If he did anything, than we shall kill him!" snarled Luhtindë, her hand clenching into a fist.
Disoriented and befuddled, Eldarion attempted to ask his questions, but was then cut off by that annoying voice.
"Alright, alright! The little blue-blood has been fussed over enough!" shouted the red-haired man, kicking and shoving the two elven women away. A two pairs of hands grabbed him, and pulled him upright.
"And you…" the scarred red-head shoved his disgusting face into the lanky boy's. "Don't think that you have escaped your intended doom, bastard."
Eldarion lunged forward, nearly biting the man's nose and dragging his captors forward as he attempted to scratch at his face. The red-head retreated, and a pair of Easterlings surged forward, forcing him into an odd jacket of sorts that forced his arms to hug his body. Finally, he was released, and ungraciously dropped to the dusty ground.
Luhtindë, Loenil, and the five other milky-eyed elves approached him, with various degrees of worry present upon their faces.
"Can someone tell me where we are, who that was, and what the year is?" Eldarion grumbled, pulling himself upright.
"You have forgotten?" remarked Colfinnor in mild surprise, scratching his blonde head.
The boy sighed. "Just humor me, please?"
"We are at the Devilish Cross in Mordor, that was our idiot leader Yuu, and the year is…Nénaquen, what is the year?" Harpaner offered, turning to the brown-haired Quenya speaker. Nénaquen shrugged, playing with the handle of his spear.
"Well," Harpaner turned back to Eldarion with a shrug. "I hope that it would suffice to say that Sauron is very much in power, but an army, with his ring, is challenging him outside of the Morranon on the Dagorlad."
Eldarion nodded, all the important information and memories flooding back to him. "It suffices."
The elf-like boy pulled himself upright into a sitting position, and looked around. He and the seven elves were set off to the side of the road leading to Udûn, with Yuu's back facing toward them. Orochimaru stood a couple feet away from him, his white hands bound in iron shackles. An army of corpses milled about the dusky crossroads, waiting for the command to march forward. Yuu stood atop an armed, reanimated hill troll, looking from head to toe a commander.
"Listen up, you maggot-riddled carcasses!" howled the Suna nin at the top of his lungs. "Once we pass though the Carach Angren, you are to hold your place in the column and move with the rest of the army. I do not care if you want to fight alongside your best friend or lover. Once we are inside, we are not changing places. So now, with in your column, grab your partner, and take position!"
The host exploded with noise as the dead scrambled about to find a friend, and retake their position. Yuu slid off the troll's back, and gestured for Orochimaru to join him. The Snake Sannin and the red-head walked over to Eldarion.
"You nine are staying near me. We will be joining the Mouth for a parley, so no funny business." snapped the shinobi.
Eldarion noticed Luhtindë's eyes widen, and Mornano's narrow. The air surrounding the seven seemed to change.
"We need to get you out of his hands." muttered Arnon, readjusting his quiver.
The other six nodded in agreement. The genin sighed, and let the seven plot. He got to his feet, and prepared to walk into Udûn, the holding area for Sauron's army.
‡‡‡*‡‡‡*‡‡‡
The valley of Udûn was a giant, hellish fortress that was clouded with ash, the persistent stench of rot and bodies, and had the color pallet of a diseased bat. It was packed to the brim with orcs, trolls, and the armies of the Easterlings and Haradrim. Just as they entered the valley, Eldarion could hear the opening and closing of the Morannon. "The Mouth must have just left to treat with the rout." he thought.
With a few confusing commands the columns of the dead slowly took their places in the valley, always the first few ranks to face the gate. Yuu pressed forward until all that remained were the seven elves, three stony dwarves, Eldarion and Orochimaru, and his troll. Orochimaru walked alongside the dwarves, and Eldarion could barely see past the tall elves that surrounded him. The pale boy was not about to complain though.
"I doubt that I would be pleased to see the valley of Udûn in its full glory," he thought, listening to the symphony of smelting, orc grunts and yowls, and the foreign words for the men. A small comfort lay in Luhtindë's chanting, and the humming of the other six. As they drew closer and closer to the gate, the air surrounding him began to tingle, and carry a strange light.
"What is going on?" he thought, utterly bewildered and definitely panicked.
Yuu seemed to notice what was going on, for he screamed out:
"Stop that right now, you bitch!"
Right then Eldarion's vision was consumed with a blue fire and he felt his being vanish.
\/\/\/\•/\/\/\/\•/\/\/\/
Kakashi was getting tired of being of his feet. Early in the morning the host had rose, and marched out to the Black Gate. Once the giant, hard-to-miss gate was in sight, Aragorn had arranged the army onto two hills overlooking the dusty plain below. Then Aragorn and Gandalf decided to ride out to the gate, and Gimli, Legolas, Pippin, Merry, Éomer, Imrahil, the Elf twins, and Minato-sensei were asked to join them. Of course, Sensei decided that it would be a good idea to take Susano'o along with his own student.
"Remind me why he has to come with us Sensei?" the Hatake asked as they ran alongside the horses down to the Black Gate.
The jōnin smiled. "It does no harm. Besides, Orochimaru-san would be most displeased if I did not allow at least one of his students to join us."
Kakashi's eyes flicked over to the copper-skinned genin, who was humming a cheerful tune.
"Anko would have been a better choice," he said with a scowl.
Minato-sensei shrugged. "Drawing lots was the only fair way to choose between them. It is what it is, Kakashi."
They finally came to a halt a fair distance from the gate. The menacing structure looked even more foreboding up close. The spiked, twisted metal seemed to stretch skyward for miles; it was even taller than Konoha's massive gates.
Susano'o made an impressed whistle. "That is one big gate," he muttered.
Kakashi sighed, and prayed that the alcoholic genin would keep his big mouth shut for the duration of…whatever they were doing here.
Finally, after a period of eerie stillness, Aragorn broke the silence.
"Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth!" he shouted at the looming gate. "Let justice be done upon him!"
There was no answer, but apprehension filled the air. Minato-sensei looked at him and Susano'o, who had bullied or bribed the standard bearer to sit on the rump of his horse. Kakashi felt an inkling of jealousy, envying the genin's seat.
*"Listen closely, both of you,"* whispered the jōnin urgently. *"We cannot attack Sour-on's emissary, even to retrieve Hoshi and Orochimaru-san. That would be breaking the laws of such parleys and treaties."*
Kakashi crossed his arms, and frowned at his sensei's declaration. *"What about Hoshi? I doubt that he is guaranteed safety."*
*"Relax, Hatake, we can save him without breaking any rules"* Susano'o waved his hand, looking self-satisfied. "Minato-sensei, I understand the spirit of what you said. But, I was part of a conversation between Merri, Pippin, Aragorn, and Obito, and all reached a consensus that you could simply use your Flying Thunder God technique, get our two people, and be back here before they could blink. You can do it at the very end of the negotiations, because no matter what, we will end up having to fight a giant-ass army."*
Kakashi was pleasantly surprised by the genin's plan, and it appeared that Sensei was as well. But before the jōnin could say anything, the Black Gate opened.
The noise of groaning gears and creaking iron filled the air as a vertical crack grew in the gate before them, as both sides swung out just enough to allow a lone hominoid on a horse to emerge from the ashy greyness beyond the thick gates. The grey-haired chūnin moved closer to the front, curious to see what the emissary was.
The emissary was clothed in elegant black robes, and had a helmet that covered everything save his mouth.
"What the hell is wrong with his mouth?" Kakashi thought. It looked diseased. There were livid gashes that radiated away from the mouth, and what little bit was left of the lips was tainted a bruised purple. He could even see a hint of long, yellow teeth.
The armored horse stopped but a meter or so away from them, and the emissary started to speak.
"My master, Sauron the Great, bids thee welcome," he declared mockingly.
His voice was deep and growling, almost if two lion's voices had been melded together. The gashes stretched as he spoke, and the gruesome lips struggled to form the words. Of course, this mouthpiece for Sour-on had to end with the most blood-curdling smile Kakashi ever had the displeasure of seeing. The overall effect was seen on everyone's repulsed face.
"Who the holy hell are you?" asked Susano'o.
Kakashi cringed. No, apparently the copper-skinned boy couldn't keep his mouth shut.
"I am the Mouth of Sauron," he declared, looking upon them with distaste. "Is there anyone in this rout with the authority to treat with me, or indeed with wit to understand me?" The Mouth turned to Aragorn, a nasty look on his face. "Not thou at least!" he sneered. "It needs more to make a king than a broken elvish blade and a rabble such as this. Any brigand of the hills can show as good a following!"
Aragorn did not say anything. He simply looked the Mouth right where his eyes ought to have been, and glared. The staring contest ensued for only a minute, because the emissary recoiled as if he had been hit.
"I am a herald and an ambassador, and I may not be assailed!" he cried, his voice an octave higher in outrage.
Kakashi could not help but stare at Aragorn in awe. "If that were Hoshi he would have thrown a fit."
Minato-sensei spoke up. "Usually a herald has enough manners to make the observance of such laws worthwhile." he remarked with a frown.
"However," Gandalf continued. "No one has threatened you. You have nothing to fear from us until your errand is done. But unless your master has come to new wisdom, then you, with all his servants, will be in great peril."
The Mouth leered at the Wizard. "So, then thou art the spokesman, old greybeard? I have a token I was bidden to show thee."
He reached into the depths of his robes, and pulled out a small, brilliant chainmail shirt. Kakashi's eyes widened and his heart dropped. It was Frodo's.
"No!" cried Pippin softly in anguish. Merry made a similarly distraught cry.
"Silence!" commanded Gandalf, looking just as distraught as the two hobbits. Everyone's faces were pale and anxious. The Mouth grinned; pleased with the pain he had brought to the group.
Kakashi, however, felt too distracted by the off atmosphere. There was something wrong. The air around him felt funny, and every time he looked past the Mouth of Sour-on, his vision blurred, then refocused. There was a genjutsu surrounding them, and Kakashi knew he was not the only one who had noticed.
"Something does not smell right about this," murmured Gimli.
No sooner than when the words fell from the dwarf's mouth did a faint, but terrible, smell of decay reach their noses. The grin promptly fell of the emissary's face and he turned around and screamed at the empty air behind him:
"Captive or not, cease maintaining this glamor and for Sauron's sake, GET RID OF THE DAMN TROLL!"
With an audible crack the genjutsu was lifted, revealing a battle going on between Yuu, three zombie dwarves, and the seven undead elves that had visited the camp a few nights ago. There was a dead troll sprawled out to the side of the Black Gate, and the elf with a helmet and one with a hammer fighting an undead dwarf. The red-haired Slivan, the blonde, and the black-haired elf were beating up one of the two undead dwarves, as the other one lay in rock-like pieces. Lastly, there were the two elven ladies, playing keep-away with Yuu, using Hoshi as the item.
Kakashi blinked, shook his head, and looked at the scene before him. Something was certainly wrong with this picture.
Legolas looked over to him. "Is this normally how you take care of hostage situations?" he asked.
The Hatake could only mutely shake his head, floored by the surreal scene.
"Hey Uchiha! It's about time someone put you in a straightjacket!" hollered Susano'o, who looked positively delighted by the scene.
"So that is what this is," Hoshi replied with a surprising amount of calm as he was hurled from the dark-haired elf to the light-haired elf. Everyone watched in fascination as the dark-haired elf set Yuu on fire. The Suna nin was cursing everyone out the entire time.
"Well princeling, was this your plan all along?"
Everyone turned around to see Orochimaru, calmly standing beside Minato-sensei, his arms crossed and a slight frown on his face.
"Trust me!" he yelled as he was yanked away from Yuu. "I had absolutely nothing to do with this!"
The red-haired jōnin suddenly noticed that the Snake Sannin was with them, and fairly exploded.
*"You cock-sucking son of a whore!"* Yuu screamed as Orochimaru cheerfully waved at him. *"You tricked us! You tricked us, you tricked us, YOU TRICKED US! I am not playing your game anymore!"*
Yuu weaved a series of unfamiliar signs, and the fighting came to a grinding halt as the seven waterlogged zombies appeared to be bound by invisible chains and dragged toward the Mouth. One by one they arrived by the Mouth of Sour-on, looking murderous, but oddly quiet. Yuu approached the Mouth, holding Hoshi by the scruff. When he arrived, he dropped the lanky genin to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi saw a piece of paper pass around the rout.
"As you can see, we are trying to offer an exchange," Yuu said, picking at his fingernails. "You see, your little spy can be returned to you, along with this mongrel here," he kicked Hoshi to illustrate his point. "I am sure you know what will happen to the both of them if you do not accept the Necromancer's terms."
A flicker of worry crossed Gandalf's face, and the Mouth grinned again.
"Name the terms," said Gandalf, looking rather defeated. Triumphantly, the Mouth began to list the terms.
The paper continued its round, from Minato-sensei, to Merry, Eomer, Imrahil, Pippin, Elladan, and Aragorn. The ranger passed it to Elrohir, who relaxed, and passed it to him. In two lines, on in a strange alphabet, one in kanji, read a message: "The Eye remains blind. I have worked to ensure Hoshi's safety. All is well."
Relived, Kakashi passed it to Gimli, forgetting entirely about Gandalf. The chūnin suddenly realized he had been so focused on the paper that he was missing the Mouth's little speech.
"-they shall help rebuild Isengard which they have wantonly destroyed, and that shall be Sauron's, and there his lieutenant shall dwell, someone more worthy of trust than Saruman ever was."
There was a brief pause. All eyes were on Gandalf, waiting to hear his decision.
"You stand to benefit much from this," Hoshi commented dryly, looking up at the Mouth. "But that is if you like windy, rainy springs, and many biting insects in the summer. Barad Dûr is not the most pleasant of homes, but I would rather be there than in Isengard during the late winter."
The Mouth scowled at the pointy-eared boy. "Did I ask for your opinion?" he sneered.
The genin shrugged his thin shoulders. "I am simply trying to help you make the best choice possible."
Yuu rolled his eyes at the exchange, but then glared at Gandalf. "Look old man, we haven't got all day!"
The Wizard held his head high, his eyes keen and face inscrutable. "This is much to demand for the delivery of one servant: that your Master should receive in exchange what he must else fight many a war to gain! Or has the field of Gondor destroyed his hope in war, so that he falls to haggling? And if indeed we rated this prisoner so high, what surety have we that Sauron the Base Master of Treachery, will keep his part? Where is this prisoner? There is one here; surely you can spare the other? Let him be brought forth and yielded to us, and then we will consider these demands."
The Mouth faltered, completely at a loss. Yuu tensed, while Hoshi remained relaxed, not looking the least bit troubled.
The emissary quickly recovered from the figurative stumble and laughed. "Do not bandy words in your insolence with the Mouth of Sauron!" he cried. "Surety you crave! Sauron gives none. If you sue for his clemency you must first do his bidding. These are his terms. Take them or leave them!"
Yuu's eyes narrowed. Without a second word he snatched the chainmail from the Mouth and tossed it to Gandalf. "A fool can see that they will take that, and nothing else!" he snapped, his gaze meeting the Wizard's strong stare. "Say what you came here to say! Let's get this over with!"
"I thank you for giving us this," said Gandalf, holding up the chainmail. "As you have said, we will take this, and reject your terms!" He turned to the Mouth, who seemed to be in shock. "Get you gone, for your embassy is over and death is near to you. We did not come here to waste words in treating with Sauron, faithless and accursed; still less with one of his slaves. Begone!"
The emissary's mouth flapped open and shut in outrage, unable to say anything. An easy smile crossed Yuu's face.
"Thank kami this is over," he said, picking up Hoshi by the shoulder, suddenly yanking back the genin's head, and, with the nonchalance of someone picking dandelions, slit Hoshi's throat with a flourish.
"Now I can relax," he crowed, tossing Kakashi's teammate to the side to bleed out.