A/N: "What's this? A ranger caught off his guard?..." *AHEM!* That's not what I meant... Though, it does fit in rather nicely... apart from the fact that "This is no mere ranger!" Ai!, I've already said one too many bad jokes! (Although the others were worse, I know. Mayhap I should do a favour to mankind and erase them too?) *looks both ways to see if anyone noticed, while madly pressing the 'delete' button that strangely enough is not erasing anything* ;) Short, I know, but if I continued, then I'd have to say *certain* things, that I want to save for next one. Besides, if I did, it would take me an extra week to get it done! This way is just better! I'm sorry, I know it took forever to get these two chapters updated, but it's all because of school! You see, there's only one room where the computers that are connected to the Internet are kept, and the stupid professor supposed to open it has been missing!! He finally returned, though… PHEW!! Oh! Somehow, my physics report from school sneaked in here. Again. But I just recently cut it out and made it suffer a painful death! MWAHAHAH!! Stupid boring thingies! Well, here's a nice extra chapter merely days after the last to make it up to you! Next one will take a while, though... I already know how it ends, but not sure about the middle... Typical me!! =) Review, pliz!!!!!!! ;D

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Chapter XII - ... And One More

Estel hid behind some tall pine-trees, keeping his distance from the party of three Elves. He was starting to have second thoughts, as he'd just realised how hungry he was; it should be about lunch time already, for his stomach was beginning to protest the lack of food. It was growling rather loudly and so, he took a few more steps backwards just to be sure the Elves wouldn't hear him.

By now, they were nothing but blurry figures moving far away from him. But, within a moment, they'd completely disappeared in the midst of all the wild, majestic trees. Little Estel panicked, now his subconscious fears and doubts resurfacing with thrice their intensity. ~I should have never done this! Ai, where have they gone to? I just wanted to go home!~

In the middle of the confusion and fear, the child lost his way even further, and no longer knew where he had come from or which way he was supposed to go. He started crying and moved back to sit under a tree.

Hesitant step by hesitant step, he looked all around him, suddenly finding the beautiful forest incredibly hostile. He turned from one side to the other, looking in every possible direction with huge teary eyes, attempting to find something, anything, that would guide him. To his surprise, though, he did find something there, just not quite what he wanted.

A black hand came from behind, without warning and, in the fright, an ear-splitting scream escaped Estel, and others followed its lead. The stranger immediately covered his mouth, efficiently muffling any further yells that the scared youth might have produced. Estel twisted and turned, trying to free himself. He even tried to bite, but that was a strong hand.

In one of his strikes, however, he was able to get a glimpse of his assailant, and to his horror, of two more behind the one holding him, just smiling wickedly with toothless mouths and their faces full of ugly scars.

Estel was now completely terrified and had paralysed in fear. It did not take long, nor did it prove too much trouble, for the strangers to knock him unconscious.

~*~

His head felt like sand on the shores of Ennor, permanently washed over by persistent waves that either drove him into the water, or dragged him back under the sun. And so it was with his head; drifting in and out of consciousness, until the side of awareness won the silent fight. The fact he was clumsily riding a horse did not help his dizziness, and the ride was an exceptionally rough one. But... horse?

The dark strangers had taken him. It was now getting dark and they were leaving an almost plain region, where the road contoured small mounds, full of fragrant bushes. Ahead, more forests could be glimpsed, but these were shadowy ones, not at all like the vale of Imladris. There, the riders strayed from the road and set camp on a hidden clearing, covered by a steep cliff that rose from it to the West.

The one behind Estel threw him to the ground, and then dismounted. By now, the child was already hurt, and, by falling on top of a rock with his back, it hurt him even more. His legs, too, had landed in all but a perfectly comfortable position. The rider tied him to the trunk of a tree.

With all these new developments, the young one's stomach, which had been left in an unaware state until then, suddenly remembered its predicament and made a rather loud noise. The wicked creature before Estel smiled evilly and left from his field of sight, only to return shortly afterwards, with a piece of way bread and water to feed him. After that, he left again, but did not return any more.

The weary child soon gave in to an uncomfortable sleep, not being able to move and suddenly very conscious of the cold night.

The next morning, they rode off again, after hastily erasing what traces there were of their camp the best they could. Estel still tried to resist, but if one of the strangers alone was impossible to fight, then against two, there was absolutely no chance. He'd been taken, but he would never go peacefully, so they kept him unconscious most of the time.

The next few days were nothing but a blur and the routine was always the same. They crossed old forests and climbed even older mountains, until they finally arrived at their destination. Estel had been sleeping then.

When next he came to, he was lying on cold ground, in some foul smelling dark room, or so he assumed. There was absolutely no light whatsoever, and the young child's eyes could see nothing. He tried putting his hand in front of his face and wave it around energetically, inches apart from his eyes, but still he saw nothing.

He attempted standing up, but found his feet still bound. In fact, he almost didn't even feel his feet, it was as if his legs simply extended themselves with no end. He was feeling sour, but his muscles soon tensed again, as the full graveness of the situation he'd gotten himself into fell as a heavy load on his mind.

~Ai! I should have never followed them! I should have stayed back in the Elves' home with mother! What am I going to do now?~

A new sentiment flooded the youngling, something he did not even know existed – despair. There was nothing he could do, but wait and see what would happen, and hope it was not too bad for him. Right now, he felt alone and cold, in the middle of nowhere and no one he knew would help him.

He lay back down and closed his eyes shut, tears flowing from them again. He felt like a fool, and regret was now burning a heavy hole in him. Eventually, sleep found his way to meet with him.

~*~

The sound of a door closing brought back Aragorn to the world of the living. All he saw, though, was a rectangle of too bright a light, slowly slitting until it disappeared completely in a matter of seconds. His eyes were heavy of both shed tears and exhaustion, but fear still made him alert enough to become aware of a change in that place.

Rasp sounds came to his ears, but he wished not to hear them. Estel shrunk back in fear of what it could be; perhaps a dragon sent to kill him, slowly ripping him apart, arm by arm, leg by leg? ~Ai! I do not want to know! I do not want to know!~ So, as soundlessly as possible, and always repeating the chant to himself, Estel stayed unmoving for a long while, his muscles hurting from the single tension they were in.

Sometimes, it would moan as if in pain, but it could also be that the pain was in its stomach and it was hungry! The little dúnadan's one responded and inevitably growled again at that thought, remembering its owner of just how long it had been since it had a proper meal. In truth, he had no idea how long it was, but he was almost sure that four lunches and four dinners, at least, had already gone by.

A little while later, Estel realised that there were no more sounds, everything had gone still and quiet again, and it scared him even more. Before, he had known the creature to be some distance away, but now there was no way to know. And his stomach would not keep still any more, now that it had given the first step out of silence. Estel clutched it desperately, hoping it would stop making all that noise, for it would lead the being to him.

Before anything else happened, though, the door was swung open again and all the light blinded him. He heard the moans again, and some speech he could not understand, pronounced in a foul manner. He heard the distant echo of another door being open and then closed back, before his own locks fell back into place.

Worry now took over, and the child wondered if they would come for him now, or if more creatures would come.