Disclaimer – As usual. Gorplak, Bagshash and the rest are mine, otherwise hats off to the great man.

A/N – Another long chapter and I've failed in my promise… the Fellowship will DEFINATELY be in the next chapter though, I tried to put them in this one but it was way too long! And don't worry Womba, they're not staying long, I'm too attached to my little Orcs and Uruk-Hai! Thanks to LOTR lover, Womba Warrior and Alon for the reviews too… if you don't mind Alon, I've used your suggestion in the previous chapter, Lurtz now says, "Morgoth knows you deserve it" to Drusbruk instead of "The Valar know blah blah blah." Credit where it's due… you don't mind if I borrow it? Thank you!! And now… the story continues! Hmm, and if you have a particular affection for rabbits… sorry!

Chapter 5 – Of hunting's and hunters



Bagshash walked beside Lurtz, striding purposefully through the forest, outside the borders of the camp, listening half-heartedly to what his leader was telling him, and remembering his first taste of blood and a female's lips.

"So the archery division isn't up to scratch?" Lurtz asked.

Bagshash feigned attention and shook his head. "A few are good shots, the rest are truly abysmal according to the Sergeant. Danglush his name is." Lurtz nodded, his plans falling into place. He explained them for the benefit of Bagshash.

"Excellent. So we place the archers in the front row for an opening volley, let them be cut down, then get the infantry to attack, starting with Nudlik's squad, making sure everyone sees them slaughtered. As the rest run, the Fellowship kill them and we attack when they least suspect it to take the Ring." He grinned maliciously. "With they follow the Orcs making the feint attack, the Fellowship won't know what hit them."

Lurtz was the military tactician so it took a few moments for Bagshash to comprehend his words. "You want the Orcs to fail?"

"Of course!" He replied. "Do you really want to go back to Master Saruman with the Ring but have to give credit to a bunch of meek-willed, pathetic elvish cast-offs?"

"Do they all have to die?" Bagshash asked quietly, the thought quite disturbing. Lurtz rounded on him.

"Are you starting to get attached to these creatures? I warned both you and Ugluk; this alliance is temporary and will not be in force long. Only until this Company is dead."

Bagshash was silent for a few moments, imagining bodies of the creatures he had come to know over the last night. No, if he were honest he imagined only one, green eyes that were once so alive now staring blankly as if in sleep. Something clenched inside him. Lurtz seemed to sense his weakening.

"Are you as weak as them?" He asked, barely keeping the disgust out of his voice.

Bagshash snorted briefly, clearing his mind and met Lurtz's intense gaze.

"No."

"Then see this mission through." Lurtz took the other's silence as a sigh of agreement.

"We should reach the river tonight, then it will be at least three days before the Fellowship will leave the boats. I'm leaving Ugluk here, you and I will return to our comrades and inform them of the proceedings."

"I would like to stay…"

"I think that unwise." Lurtz cut him off. "We leave soon, before the next march begins. See to it you are ready." He stalked away without waiting for a reply.

Bagshash watched him until he was out of sight, and slammed his fist into a nearby tree trunk with a shout of rage. The tree gave a great groan, and the bark cracked and snapped beneath his hand. He barely noticed the blood flowing from his knuckles.

Someone else did.

"You shouldn't let him get to you; you should be in command, not him." The voice came from behind him, a female voice, and for a moment his heart leapt. But even after a few words he knew it was not her, the voice too deep, the tone too seductive after what they had shared. A hand pulled his, examining the injury. He turned, knowing what he would find.

"Private Vashlash." He greeted her formally, and she smiled slowly, revealing black shards of rotting enamel. She blinked slowly, her eyes never leaving him.

"So, have you come to your senses?" Bagshash frowned incomprehensively. "Archer females not to your taste?" She smiled again, and Bagshash knew what she was referring to. He wanted no reminder of that; it still sent a spasm of something through his body with every memory.

Vashlash continued to gaze at him, running a finger over his blooded hand, she slowly raised it to her lips, licked it, and her eyes closed for a moment. As they reopened, Bagshash saw a spark alight in her eyes, and a growl arose from her throat.

Noticing his hand for the first time, he saw the dark blood, smelled it's sweet enticement, and felt the urge for more pass through him again.

Vashlash smiled at the response she had been looking for. "I have tasted you, now you must taste mine." She watched as his uninjured hand clenched and opened, in his struggle to maintain his composure. "Taste it!" She willed him, her breath becoming heavier. Bagshash almost gave in.

"No." He said hesitantly.

There was silence for a few moments as she started at him in astonishment. "No?"

"No."

She laughed humourlessly. "You would choose a pitiful creature like Gorplak over me? A worthless, ugly beast with no…"

A blow to her face made her silent. In his anger at her words, Bagshash lashed out, at the last moment his fist unclenching so his claws slashed over her cheek. Vashlash brought a hand up to her injury to stop the blood spilling down and marvelled at the anger in his eyes.



It was early evening before Gorplak was roused; still too light for the liking of the Orcs but darkness was slowly falling where the sun's rays could no longer stretch right across the sky. It was not a hand that roused her, but her stomach, needing food. Pausing for a moment to decide if she wanted to risk the dusk, she set off for the boundaries of the camp, hoping for a hunting expedition. One had not been set in the hurry for departure the previous evening so she assumed that the sentry's had been given permission to let soldiers leave for food, as was the standard practise. Off to kill, her bow on her back, Gorplak's spirits rose slightly from Bagshash's rejection. She shook any thoughts of that away, her dreams had been disturbing enough without them invading on reality.

Raising a hand to the sentry on duty and promising them whatever she could catch, she walked out into an undisturbed area of the forest, hoping to find some creatures feeding in the shadowy woodland. Slowing, and treading more carefully so as not to disturb her food, she crept through the leaves, trying not to breathe in the foul scent from the flowering bushes; their odious smell contaminating the air. A gentle patter drew her attention. She smiled. Rabbits, perfect.

She lifted her bow from her shoulders, as quietly as possible, and reached for an arrow from her quiver. Notching it, she stretched out the bow, aimed, and released. At the sound of the arrow through the air, all the rabbits bar the one she had hit stood straight and still, leaving her time to draw another arrow and bag a second. As she stepped forwards to claim her prizes, the rest of the warren fled leaving the two bloody heaps behind. She removed the arrows for later use, returning them to the quiver and took the two dead rabbits by the ears; one for herself and one as promised to the sentry. She could almost taste it, making her stomach begin to growl at the thought so she turned back for camp, but something held her attention.

Voices. Perhaps… yes, voices. She thought to ignore it until she realised one had a distinctly female quality. There was no foreign scent on the air, so they were Orcs then. Vashlash. Gorplak knew she should not intrude upon her friend, but perhaps she would wish to share a meal. No harm in asking. She followed the voices a little way and froze as she caught sight of two very familiar figures. Vashlash… and Bagshash.

Gorplak felt numb. She wished she felt something: anger, hatred, sadness, but nothing came. The smell of blood had permeated the air about her, and she had seen the look Vashlash currently had in her eye many times; lust. So Bagshash had made his choice. Her mind told her body to leave the two in peace, but her body refused to leave, so she watched, unnoticed.



She laughed again, this one more amused than the last. "A much better choice." He pulled her hand from her face angrily, trying desperately to ignore the fresh blood tantalizingly close. She whispered hoarsely into his ear, "Taste it."

Bagshash was helpless now, the sweet stench of blood filling every pore, every thought, so he succumbed. He closed his eyes, letting his sense of smell guide him to the source of his search. He ran a hesitant lip over the blood he had spilt, savouring it as before. Vashlash let out a contented sigh.



Gorplak saw him lean across to the blooded cheek and taste it, and heard Vashlash's sigh of pleasure. It was then that she decided she had seen enough. Creeping away just as silently as she had approached she left the two lovers in peace, wishing only for silence. She cursed herself. For being so stupid to believe he could possibly resist the ugliness of Vashlash, for being foolish enough to entice him to kiss her, for being idiotic enough to start to fall in lo…

She squeezed her eyes shut but still the words progressed in her head. To fall in love with a complete stranger.

Love, there was a concept she had thought long buried. The lack of it had kept her alive for millennia, reminding herself she didn't need it, didn't need anything bright in her life anymore. And now, just when she had remembered how it could be, it was ripped from her.

Taking a firmer grip on the carcasses in her hands, she fought to ignore the cold clutching pain in her heart. Grief would find no hold to poison her, to cause her to fester; she had been through too much to let such a simple thing stop her now. It made her raise her head and walk on. Back at camp, she passed a rabbit on to the sentry and went back to her seat. She even managed to be civil to Nudlik as he passed and enquired about Vashlash's whereabouts, not even flinching at the thought of her rival. She directed him out towards where she had last seen them, and he left her to stripping her food with rather more violence than was strictly necessary.



Fresh blood, a willing female, a quiet forest glade, all should have felt absolutely right to Bagshash… and yet something within him was holding him back. Perhaps it was the smell. All too clearly he remembered the scent of another female who had been willing to share her blood with him and nothing could rid it from him. He pulled back from Vashlash and was surprised by what he saw reflected in her eyes.

There was triumph in those red eyes. Triumph? He was not prey, not a catch; she was no hunter, it was the blood of another that had snared him, that he wanted. And it was those other eyes he wanted to stare into now, eyes that would meet his with nothing but compassion and feeling. Time to stop this nonsense.

"I think you should return to camp." At his words, her head jerked slightly, they were not the words she had been expecting. "You march soon, the night draws near."

"There is still time for us to…"

He interrupted her. "Go back to camp. Go and find a male who wants your blood as much as you want his. I'm sure there will be many volunteers."

She hissed in anger at his words, disbelieving. "You're turning me down?" A realisation hit her. "For Gorplak? That… Archer?" It was the best insult she could think of.

"Go to the Grey Havens." Bagshash told her smartly. "Where you belong." He began to walk away. "Goodbye Private Vashlash. Tell Archer Gorplak she will shine brighter in my mind than any star above."

Vashlash watched him go in contempt. "Go to Morgoth, you and your archer female." If he heard he gave no signal of it. Males, she thought exasperatedly. That was one message she would not be passing on… but why should she need to? Bagshash could just tell her himself. Unless he were leaving camp with Lurtz as Danglush had told her earlier. She smiled to herself. You can't defend yourself from rumours when you're not there.

Vashlash loved being evil.

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Crikey, romantic Uruk-Hai's and scheming Orcs… whatever next! Bless Bagshash's little heart, and curse Vashlash's devious little mind! So there we have it, more problems for the lovers… will it all end in tears? I know, but you'll just have to wait and see! Until next time dear reader!