Chapter 4
Trust and Blood
It was becoming dark and they were about to stop for the night. Suddenly, Aragorn called a halt, drawing his sword at a word from Legolas. The elf fitted an arrow to his bow and the others readied their respective weapons. Garak's dark eyes searched the surrounding forest; he sniffed the air, recognizing foulness. He growled and Kay looked up at him.
"What is it?" she whispered. He didn't remove his eyes from the darkness.
"Orcs, my little weak cousins, but they have us surrounded," he growled low. "I need a weapon, I cant help you with out one," he hissed. Kay opened her hands.
"Aragorn took it, I don't know what he did with your sword and knife," she said back, helplessly. Garak growled, frustrated. There was a screech and the orcs attacked. Kay stayed with Garak, using her knife as best she could. Aragorn, Boromir and Gimli cut their way through the oncoming horde. Legolas loosed many arrows, felling them as they charged. Gandalf stayed close to the hobbits, who used elven long knives. The little ones had become braver and more skilled under the tutelage of the Men.
Garak roared and crushed the smaller orcs with his bare hands, braking necks and smashing them against trees. Kay ducked and spun, stabbing her knife into an orc's throat. Garak managed to keep an eye on the girl, though, why he bothered he didn't know. He had to give the girl credit, even though she was indeed very young, she had extraordinary courage and met the creatures head on. Garak smashed a skull against a tree, growling at his smaller cousins, some of them cowered and he grinned. They did not expect an Uruk-hai to be with the fellowship, and tried to avoid him.
Kay watched as Garak beat the orcs back, he was indeed powerful. She had to turn back to the battle as an orc came up behind her swinging a scimitar. She ducked, her eyes wide, Kay was not good at this fighting thing. She stabbed the orc in his stomach, rolling away.
"There are too many!" Boromir cried. Aragorn caught his gaze.
"Run! We have to find a place easier to defend, we are too open here!" he ordered. Garak growled, he did not want to run from these pathetic weaklings, but he knew the others could not fight them like this. He followed Kay, as they ran through the wood. Up ahead there was a rock face, a dead end. Fates were against them today for it also started to rain. "Protect the halflings!" called Aragorn. The hobbits were put against the rock wall, with the others surrounding them. Kay stood beside Garak, watching the dark, waiting for the attack to come. And it did, though not in the magnitude it had been.
There was a rumbling above them, Kay looked up. No one else seemed to notice, but there were more orcs above them. They were hitting at the rocks, trying to start a rockslide. Kay left the battle and grabbed the hobbits. She threw them away, and Frodo gave a cry when he saw why. Garak heard the shout and turned, he saw the girl throw the hobbits away from the rocks. He looked up and saw the huge boulders bearing down on her.
The Uruk dove at her and she cried out as his huge mass connected with her smaller body. He used his momentum to push both of them mostly out of the way of the falling rocks. He covered Kay's body with his, using his greater mass to shield the girl from harm. His leather armor and muscles took most of the shock of the rocks, and he grunted. In time there was only silence, the sound of his breathing the only noise. There were no more sounds of fighting; perhaps they finally ran off, the cowards (the orcs, he means). Garak lifted himself off the girl and looked down at her. Her eyes were closed, and his heightened sense of smell caught a whiff of blood.
The Uruk lifted himself fully off the small body beneath him, and raked his sharp eyes over her. He reached out and turned her head to the side, a rock must have struck her head; blood trickled from a gash on her skull. Garak lifted the limp body with one arm, she felt like a rag doll in his hands, all loose limbs and lolling head. He pressed two fingers to her neck, feeling a strong pulse. She was just knocked out. He didn't know why he was so relieved.
"Is she alright?" Aragorn's voice from behind him. Garak didn't turn around, but growled and nodded.
"She's just unconscious, she'll be fine," he rumbled. Garak turned the girl onto her side, still holding her with his arm. With his large black fingers, he gently (as much as he could) shifted her hair, finding the wound. At the sight and smell of her blood, his unnatural hunger panged. He shook the feeling away, he would not taste her blood again, especially in front of her friends. It wasn't too deep, though it would probably make her dizzy and nauseous for a while. Thankfully, it would not require any stitching and the rain was cleaning it for them. Garak tore off a long piece of the girl's cloak and tied it firmly around her head.
"What did you do, monster?" Garak turned to his right, an arrow pointed at his nose. The elf's eyes were almost glowing with rage. The Uruk grinned horribly, meeting the immortal's eyes.
"Saved her life, like she saved mine. She'll wake up soon," he said, and stood. He slung Kay's body over one massive shoulder. "We should find shelter and get out of this rain," he said. Aragorn said something to Legolas in elvish, and the blonde lowered his bow. He still watched Garak warily, now and again his eyes shifting to Kay's motionless body. Garak could read his fair face like a book. "If I wanted her dead, elf, I'd have killed her already," he growled, almost like he was amused. The elf started, his face flushed and he turned away. The company moved on, the rain now coming down in torrents.
The girl he carried stirred and awoke. Kay found herself in a surprising position, looking at the ground moving under her, yet her feet were not moving. She smelled leather and sweat, and another, darker smell that she could not place. Her head throbbed with every movement and she was suddenly aware of a large hand around her thighs.
"Garak?" she croaked. The Uruk didn't respond but she knew it was he. "Let me down, you great oaf! I can walk!" she demanded. Kay could have sworn he laughed, his shoulder shook a bit, then she was suddenly turned upright and on her feet. The world spun around her, and she swayed. Garak's great hand shot out to steady her, but she pulled away. "I am not a child, I do not need you to carry me," she shot back at him. The rest of the fellowship waited for them ahead and Kay began to walk toward them. Dizziness swamped her head and she suddenly felt sick, Kay crumpled to the ground and promptly emptied the contents of her stomach.
"Kay? Are you alright?" Legolas asked from somewhere near her. The girl nodded and stood. She managed to meet the elf's gaze and smiled, if a little crooked.
"I'm ok, Leggy, don't worry," she said, using the nickname she had given the elf. He didn't even respond, though he hated the name. Legolas nodded and returned to the others. Kay took a few more steps, feeling even the hobbits' eyes on her. She stumbled again and would have fallen if a tree-trunk like arm had not caught her around her middle. She heard someone growl, as if annoyed and the world tilted. Kay was suddenly in Garak's arms again, though not over his shoulder this time, but cradled like a baby. "No," she tried to protest, but was silenced by a withering look from the Uruk.
"You are in no condition to walk, and you would only slow us up. Now shut up and we can get out of this rain," he growled. Kay, bit dazed still and not feeling up to a verbal sparing match, shut her mouth. They began to walk again, this time at a faster pace. Her head hurt, a lot, and she was very dizzy, so she decided that being carried wasn't too bad, even if it was by Garak. The girl sighed and rested her head against Garak's muscled shoulder.
The Uruk looked down at his burden, her wet head lying on his shoulder. He almost smiled at this unconscious show of trust. She indeed was too hurt to walk and Garak had had about enough of her foolish protesting, what was she trying to prove anyway? Why did he care? Not long ago, if someone said he would be traveling with a company like this and would be saved by a human girl, he probably would have thrown them into the pits. Garak shook his head, banishing those thoughts, he was through with what he used to be. This girl, a human, had given him another chance, to be more than what others thought of him. She believed in him. She had trusted him enough to give her own blood to him. Her blood. It must be her blood, something about it was different, not like others he had tasted. No, it was different, even the taste. Garak licked his awful lips as if in remembrance. It was the best tasting blood he's ever had, but that was not normal. Every other had been the same, why was this girl's different? Garak almost stumbled when the answer hit him like a fist.
She had given it freely.
The blood tasted different because it was not tinged with fear, pain and hate. Her's was full of faith, health, and …love? Garak shook his head, trying to get rid of these strange thoughts. He had only ever drunk the blood of his victims, but Kay had given him her blood with the full intent of helping him, healing him. Even now, Garak could feel the girl's blood doing something to him, on the inside. Like all the black foulness and pain was being burned from him, he didn't look any different, and doubted he ever would, but he felt different. He couldn't place the new feelings, but most of them revolved around the now slumbering girl he held in his arms. Garak looked down at her face again, her smooth white skin a strange contrast against his blemished, black flesh. He walked along in silence, brooding over what was happening and what would happen.
They finally found a cave, big enough to hold all of them. They managed after several tries to light a fire and the halflings gathered around the blaze, warming themselves. Aragorn motioned for Garak to come over to one side, he had laid out Kay's bedroll, and the Uruk laid his burden down on it. The man covered the girl with her blanket and stood, facing the Uruk-hai. For a long while neither spoke, only stood there, staring into each other's eyes. Finally, it was Aragorn who broke the silence.
"Thank you for saving her, I now can see what she sees in you," and left him like that. What in Middle Earth did that mean? Garak just shrugged and sat down beside the sleeping girl, his eyes sweeping over her form now and again, making sure she was still breathing. Not that he cared of course.