Disclaimer – Fellowship, Lurtz and Ugluk not mine, the Orcs I've given characters are. That's it!

AN – Hmm, the story seemed to have vanished from the lists for a while but my faithful minion… er reader, Womba Warrior managed to hunt it down and leave another lovely review so here's another chapter to show my gratitude to you! Finally… fanfare The Fellowship! Enjoy them while you can because they're not the stars of this fic! On with the story!

Chapter 6 – Pain, eyesores and healings



Gorplak ate the raw blooded meat slowly, carefully chewing but tasting nothing, eyes fixed upon the camp boundaries waiting for either of them to make an appearance. The sun was slowly setting now, and orders for the march had been given, yet still the pair of lovers had not emerged from their wooded hideaway. Gorplak watched still, and could not quell the sorrow and hatred in her heart. If Bagshash had chosen another he could at least have spared her feelings. She snorted, briefly closing her eyes; he didn't feel pain so why would he wish to spare others of its torture. And torture it was.

Nothing in her long life had ever have prepared her for the twisting, grinding pain that infected every part of her and made her close her eyes occasionally in despair. Worst of all was the ache in her heart; a cold, relentless ache that made her dizzy with its sting. It made her oblivious to everything around her.

Almost everything.

The moment Vashlash appeared, Gorplak had to force down an uncomprehendingly pleasant urge to rip her head off. Instead she bit down on the bloody meat, images of a dark liquid flowing through her head. To her dismay, Vashlash meandered over to where she sat, and picked up a hind leg Gorplak had been saving. She sighed contentedly, smiling slightly, and begging Gorplak with her gaze to ask her where she had been.

Gorplak ignored it.

Finally Vashlash could stand the silence no longer. "So… ask me where I've been!" Gorplak finished chewing slowly. Be calm, she told herself, be calm.

"Where have you been." She asked as requested. Vashlash gushed happily.

"With Bagshash." She smiled at the discomfort that Gorplak tried so desperately not to show. "They say the Uruk-Hai are superior to Orcs, and it's true." She left enough unsaid to convey the double meaning in her words, but was disappointed by Gorplak's lack of response.

"I hope you're not too tired to march, the orders have been given." Gorplak replied without enthusiasm, insides churning at the confirmation of what she had seen. She still wanted desperately to severely harm the triumphant female along side her but resisted by driving a sharp nail deeper into the hunk of meat she had abandoned eating. She was spared a response as she saw Vashlash stiffen. She found Nudlik approaching and wondered what the source of Vashlash's discomfort was; the two had always seemed to get on well, in fact many rumours flew round that the two were frequent lovers. Gorplak had always believed it at least, and a bitter thought entered her head: why should Vashlash need a lover on top of this fine specimen? It brought a fresh coil of pain.

Nudlik threw a dashingly ugly smile in Vashlash's direction, which she blatantly ignored. "Yes?" She asked coldly.

The smile on his face faded to be replaced with confusion. He seemed about to speak but words seemed to fail him.

"If you're not going to say anything then go away." Vashlash snapped at him. Nudlik straightened with a strange look on his scarred face, and Gorplak realised it was a look she too must be wearing: the look of a spurned lover. A sympathetic smile crept over her face, Nudlik noticed it and nodded thankfully in her direction before moving away again.

"Don't know what I ever saw in him." Vashlash confided to Gorplak after his departure. "Compared to Bagshash he's a little maggoty runt." That wasn't what Gorplak wanted to hear, she had always admired Nudlik from afar, but the comparison to Bagshash disheartened her even more. She remained silent, lost in a depth of misery she hadn't known possible. Even her Orcish initiations seemed better than this darkness, at least that had given her a channel for her anger and hatred; this was caused by her own pathetic needs and there was no one to blame but herself. She saw those strong arms that had held her so tight now around another, those urgent lips giving pleasure to someone else, and she wallowed in self-pity.

Vashlash watched Gorplak's reaction to the situation for a few moments, annoyed that she had taken to the ruse so lightly. No screams or tantrums, not even an admission of how she felt. Vashlash wondered if she should stick the knife any deeper into the wound she had caused her friend but realised she couldn't; Gorplak was indeed her friend and Vashlash had already caused her much pain, that much was obvious from her always open face. And she had shared the meat she had caught. Vashlash wasn't completely wicked.

Soon the order to recommence the march came through, Gorplak and Vashlash shouldered their weapons and fell into ranks. Into the night they ran.



The pair of females went in silence through the dark forest, each lost in their own thoughts. A few hours into the march, the column veered sharply to the left, and through the dense vegetation the occasional glimpse of gently rippling water was visible, silver spots dancing on it's surface in the moonlight. Gorplak, beginning to drag herself from her pit of misery, glanced out over the quiet waters of the Anduin; it made a change of scenery to the unceasing forest floor beneath her feet. A whisper was slowly passing down the line, drawing attention slightly further downstream. Gorplak focused her eyes where the rumour suggested and they widened as she spied three small boats floating gently along. So the enemy was finally in sight.

A sound of disgust emerged from Vashlash's throat, breaking the silence. "There's an Elf. It's HIDEOUS!" Gorplak followed the pointed finger to where blond hair glinted and could not resist her own cry of horror; even from this distance, its beautiful features were obvious.

"Dear Morgoth!" The curse from behind them sounded out. She glanced briefly over her shoulder to see Nudlik running behind with him mouth gaping at the perfection of the Elf. "Be glad you'll never have to meet that in a forest on a bright day." He joked.

"Perhaps but I'd rather mate with that than you." Vashlash threw back at him. Gorplak snorted briefly in amusement until she realised Vashlash wasn't jesting. The other female could be comical when she wanted but this comment was purely aimed at Nudlik as an insult; Gorplak put it down to missing her new lover. She didn't even think his name.

Nudlik opened his mouth to form a retort but before he had chance, the hulking form of Ugluk bore down on them. "Silence from now on. That's an order." He hissed at them, before continuing further down the column and passing on the command. The trio fell silent and Gorplak once more studied the boats; they had slowly gained on the vessels and were now drawing level, soon they would overtake completely. Trying to avoid looking at the eyesore in the back of the boat, she noticed what looked like a dwarf sitting in the bow. Perhaps the dwarf and the elf would kill each other, saving them the work, Gorplak thought to herself, before moving her eyes on. The other two boats held a human and two smaller beings, the infamous halflings. Shouldn't be too much trouble, how much of a fight could eight put up against a whole Company of Orcs? There shouldn't be many casualties on their side, perhaps Vashlash could be among them? Gorplak was disgusted at herself, that thought was far too evil to wish on her friend; after all, all was fair in love, war and the opposite sex. She could have him.

With the release of that admission, true or not, Gorplak felt much better. She breathed in the cold air and ran on, her enemy behind her, her life in front.

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Okay, there goes the Fellowship for a little while, hope you enjoyed them! So Vashlash's evil plan has been put into action and poor Gorplak is falling for it, what will happen next? Will Bagshash return to put Vashlash back in her place or will Drusbruk help heal Gorplak's broken heart? Or will Nudlik need comfort from Vashlash's insults and find it? Find out which in the next chapter! Until than dear reader!