Author's notes: Alright, the spider stuff in there is researched, yes. But
I'm not sure if it applies to Tolkien's world. Maybe it'll help some of you
overcome the fear of spiders to know they can't actually eat you *wink*
Think 'The Fly' yeah?
Warning: no Legolas in this chapter. He's in it about as much as Arwen in the first chapter, buuuuuut! He's coming. I've also noticed that I'm mixing up some of the pre-knowledge of fanfiction in. And I apologise for it. I take for granted that Elladan, Elrohir and Aragorn were always close, and that Aragorn does get himself in a lot of trouble on his own. But the point of the fic is... he's quite capable of surviving on his own as well.
For full disclaimer, check part 1.
***************
Another Look
***************
Sense came back slowly, true awareness hovering close by but still out of reach. He could hear things, but he could not move, or will his eyes open.
- When are we to eat him? He killed enough of us! And he looks tasty!
Maybe awareness wasn't such a good thing under the circumstances. But he knew not to indulge in rest too long, for it could be costly. He wrenched himself out of the darkened foils of sleep, to meet the harsh reality with a muffled gasp.
He willed himself to be silent. It would not do to bring attention to himself. Aragorn bit through his lip, tasting the blood, as he tried to ignore his body's many aches and his mind's screeches of danger. All in good time.
Opening his eyes, he almost gave into panic as all he saw around him was blackness. He quickly regained control on himself and tested out his other limbs.
He came to one ugly conclusion. He was in a cocoon.
He was completely immobilized. Panic seized hold of his mind, memories of bonds and violence and screaming in the darkness, pain and blood, deaths all around him when he couldn't move an inch.
Past. All in the past. He viciously pushed the memories back and focused on his situation. He gave himself very practical tasks to occupy his mind, trying to determine if the spiders had removed all his weapons before... paralysing him. At the thought, he pushed back another surge of fear and panic. It would not do to lose focus and condemn himself because of an irrational fear.
Aragorn wriggled as best he could to reach the knife he kept close to his breast. He could feel its shape against his chest but doubted he could ever reach it; his movements were too restrained by the web.
He kept trying to grasp it, even though he knew he would probably never manage it. Idle thoughts ran through his mind as his body strived on getting itself free. First and foremost, where was Legolas? Aragorn dearly hoped nothing had happened to him. He was not meant for the harshness of the evil weaving itself around Mirkwood or any other part of the world. No Elf should have to confront this evil, no elf should ever be tainted by it.
From the moment he'd met the elf, Aragorn had been drawn to him. His joy and easy-going nature. These beings weren't meant for sorrow, or pain. Legolas even more than any other elf. He'd accepted the human without so much as a scowl, innocently believing in the goodness of all beings on Arda. He had immense respect for the living beings of this earth. He didn't harbour hate, or dark feelings of any sort. And
that was as it should be. Legolas was the elf of all elves. He represented what the elves should be were they not touched by the darkness and evil of this world. And Aragorn would give his life before he saw such purity tainted. He would give his very soul to protect this precious friend.
Which is why he HAD to work his way out of this blasted cocoon if he was to be of any help.
Even as the thought crossed his mind, he scolded himself for it. Legolas was as capable a fighter as he was.
He was behaving like Elladan. Overprotecting those who could well defend themselves.
Once he established that, he decided to let the matter rest until he could find Legolas.
Which, considering the present state of affairs, wouldn't be anytime soon.
He had managed to drag one arm closer, surprisingly enough. His arm muscles were nearly cramped up with the effort it took to move his arm from his side to his stomach. The blood stained his fingers as they rested on the wound and he winced, pushing back the pain. Very nearly there... He focused on moving the arm under the clothing, hoping that the web would not stick to his clothes as much as his bare forearm.
The tip of his fingers were now touching the handle of the weapon. He gave himself a mental applause and tried to secure the weapon in his grip. He felt he was just about to close his hand on the weapon when he was jostled out of his concentration.
He'd nearly forgotten about the spiders.
- Looks like the little man's awake.
- We can eat him now, right?
- Yes, it's time.
Aragorn's eyes widened and he felt the web around him shift, the wound he'd upset on his stomach hurt anew as Aragorn tensed up. He knew how spiders ate. They couldn't eat any tissue. They spewed out some sort of acidic liquid which dissolved their victims in a matter of seconds. Then the spiders were free to drink them up.
With a shudder, Aragorn finally closed his hand on the knife.
He felt the web close to his left hand getting hotter, and then he felt the burn of acid as it pierced through the web to his hand.
He muffled a scream and finally, finally cut through the web surrounding him with one swift move.
Taking in the situation, he ignored the new and old pains, focusing on finding a way out. Surrounded by spiders. Again.
It got old really fast.
He sprang to his feet, narrowly avoiding another acidic spittle. Running to the nearest tree, Aragorn cursed the pain in his leg, and prayed that it not give out under him.
There was no way out. At least a dozen spiders around him, more behind. He was weakened and unarmed except for the knife.
No problem. He'd faced worse odds before.
Right?
As the spiders recovered from the shock of seeing their dinner run away, the closest one jumped at him, no doubt hoping to tackle him and be done with the troublesome meal.
Aragorn ducked and rolled to his left, then sprang up, ready to face the rest.
One came at him directly and Aragorn tried to hold it back using his right hand on its ugly head, two fingers piercing the eyes. He used that handle to jump over the next spider, rolling as he touched the ground, narrowly avoiding another one.
As he rolled, he grabbed onto a fallen tree limb and, swinging it around, he managed to clear the area around himself long enough to see salvation.
Without another second's thought, he leapt for the opening. One spider managed to graze his side as he passed right between her legs.
He grabbed onto a tree branch, ready to haul himself up and eventually, reach the top of the spider's cave. He deemed himself lucky that they hadn't dragged him inside. And that they seemed stupid enough to choose such a place. It was obvious to him that the rock settlement sitting on top of the cave was very unstable. A dwarf had taught him that every rock surface has a weakness, and that, once that weakness is found, it only needs miserable force to crumble it.
Miserable force was all Aragorn had left.
End part 2
Review responses:
Merlraven: Thank you. I shall do my best to raise to your expectations, my lady. *bows and kisses Merlraven's hand*
Grumpy: *giggles at screen name like idiot* Oh, and the words... Well Aragorn's a bit of a smart ass. Dunno how well that'd work for the king but... I like it. Cheeky!Aragorn *g* Thanks, lovely.
Jadelyn Rashwe: *bows* This is actually... huh... my first attempt at a somewhat light-hearted fic. Plus, it's the first time I manage to down my rating to something acceptable to ff.net's standards. So I'm hoping I'll be able to keep it somewhat light, but I gotta make my readers think. It's my trademark. *bg*
Dshael: More, yes. Not done yet though. I have this thing about endings... *looks around innocently* thanks for the com though.
Rainydayz: HA! You know I stared at that part of the story like an idiot, refusing to believe that I'd written het? And romance to top it off. In fact, now that you mention it, I think I'm going to go stare at it some more in disbelief. *g* thanks Chiquita. Glad you enjoyed yourself.
Estelcontar: *g* I love you. Really. I do. It's very simple and clean: I love you. English isn't my native language, but I've been involved in fanfic since I was 14. I like to think I no longer need to mention that French is my first language before publishing a fic. I'm glad the language farts I have are kept mostly to myself. But without a beta, you may encounter strange wording and others. Please feel free to tell me! As for the unorthodox Aragorn, well what I call orthodox is what the writers of the fandom have made of the character. A dependant Aragorn who I don't think could survive on his own in the wild for more than a week. Always needing the help of the elves to get by. And that, frankly, makes me twitch. Read my bio about this bit, 'cause I could rant a lot here. *g* I'm a lengthy gal. There is one thing however. I read a fic with Aragorn where he was forced to kill someone in self-defence and didn't beat himself up over it for years. I was in shock. *g* It shouldn't be too long for the updates, but I've been stuck for the past two days. I think two days is my top limit before I blow up and do something drastic about it. Not sure whether the readers like that though. *g*
Warning: no Legolas in this chapter. He's in it about as much as Arwen in the first chapter, buuuuuut! He's coming. I've also noticed that I'm mixing up some of the pre-knowledge of fanfiction in. And I apologise for it. I take for granted that Elladan, Elrohir and Aragorn were always close, and that Aragorn does get himself in a lot of trouble on his own. But the point of the fic is... he's quite capable of surviving on his own as well.
For full disclaimer, check part 1.
***************
Another Look
***************
Sense came back slowly, true awareness hovering close by but still out of reach. He could hear things, but he could not move, or will his eyes open.
- When are we to eat him? He killed enough of us! And he looks tasty!
Maybe awareness wasn't such a good thing under the circumstances. But he knew not to indulge in rest too long, for it could be costly. He wrenched himself out of the darkened foils of sleep, to meet the harsh reality with a muffled gasp.
He willed himself to be silent. It would not do to bring attention to himself. Aragorn bit through his lip, tasting the blood, as he tried to ignore his body's many aches and his mind's screeches of danger. All in good time.
Opening his eyes, he almost gave into panic as all he saw around him was blackness. He quickly regained control on himself and tested out his other limbs.
He came to one ugly conclusion. He was in a cocoon.
He was completely immobilized. Panic seized hold of his mind, memories of bonds and violence and screaming in the darkness, pain and blood, deaths all around him when he couldn't move an inch.
Past. All in the past. He viciously pushed the memories back and focused on his situation. He gave himself very practical tasks to occupy his mind, trying to determine if the spiders had removed all his weapons before... paralysing him. At the thought, he pushed back another surge of fear and panic. It would not do to lose focus and condemn himself because of an irrational fear.
Aragorn wriggled as best he could to reach the knife he kept close to his breast. He could feel its shape against his chest but doubted he could ever reach it; his movements were too restrained by the web.
He kept trying to grasp it, even though he knew he would probably never manage it. Idle thoughts ran through his mind as his body strived on getting itself free. First and foremost, where was Legolas? Aragorn dearly hoped nothing had happened to him. He was not meant for the harshness of the evil weaving itself around Mirkwood or any other part of the world. No Elf should have to confront this evil, no elf should ever be tainted by it.
From the moment he'd met the elf, Aragorn had been drawn to him. His joy and easy-going nature. These beings weren't meant for sorrow, or pain. Legolas even more than any other elf. He'd accepted the human without so much as a scowl, innocently believing in the goodness of all beings on Arda. He had immense respect for the living beings of this earth. He didn't harbour hate, or dark feelings of any sort. And
that was as it should be. Legolas was the elf of all elves. He represented what the elves should be were they not touched by the darkness and evil of this world. And Aragorn would give his life before he saw such purity tainted. He would give his very soul to protect this precious friend.
Which is why he HAD to work his way out of this blasted cocoon if he was to be of any help.
Even as the thought crossed his mind, he scolded himself for it. Legolas was as capable a fighter as he was.
He was behaving like Elladan. Overprotecting those who could well defend themselves.
Once he established that, he decided to let the matter rest until he could find Legolas.
Which, considering the present state of affairs, wouldn't be anytime soon.
He had managed to drag one arm closer, surprisingly enough. His arm muscles were nearly cramped up with the effort it took to move his arm from his side to his stomach. The blood stained his fingers as they rested on the wound and he winced, pushing back the pain. Very nearly there... He focused on moving the arm under the clothing, hoping that the web would not stick to his clothes as much as his bare forearm.
The tip of his fingers were now touching the handle of the weapon. He gave himself a mental applause and tried to secure the weapon in his grip. He felt he was just about to close his hand on the weapon when he was jostled out of his concentration.
He'd nearly forgotten about the spiders.
- Looks like the little man's awake.
- We can eat him now, right?
- Yes, it's time.
Aragorn's eyes widened and he felt the web around him shift, the wound he'd upset on his stomach hurt anew as Aragorn tensed up. He knew how spiders ate. They couldn't eat any tissue. They spewed out some sort of acidic liquid which dissolved their victims in a matter of seconds. Then the spiders were free to drink them up.
With a shudder, Aragorn finally closed his hand on the knife.
He felt the web close to his left hand getting hotter, and then he felt the burn of acid as it pierced through the web to his hand.
He muffled a scream and finally, finally cut through the web surrounding him with one swift move.
Taking in the situation, he ignored the new and old pains, focusing on finding a way out. Surrounded by spiders. Again.
It got old really fast.
He sprang to his feet, narrowly avoiding another acidic spittle. Running to the nearest tree, Aragorn cursed the pain in his leg, and prayed that it not give out under him.
There was no way out. At least a dozen spiders around him, more behind. He was weakened and unarmed except for the knife.
No problem. He'd faced worse odds before.
Right?
As the spiders recovered from the shock of seeing their dinner run away, the closest one jumped at him, no doubt hoping to tackle him and be done with the troublesome meal.
Aragorn ducked and rolled to his left, then sprang up, ready to face the rest.
One came at him directly and Aragorn tried to hold it back using his right hand on its ugly head, two fingers piercing the eyes. He used that handle to jump over the next spider, rolling as he touched the ground, narrowly avoiding another one.
As he rolled, he grabbed onto a fallen tree limb and, swinging it around, he managed to clear the area around himself long enough to see salvation.
Without another second's thought, he leapt for the opening. One spider managed to graze his side as he passed right between her legs.
He grabbed onto a tree branch, ready to haul himself up and eventually, reach the top of the spider's cave. He deemed himself lucky that they hadn't dragged him inside. And that they seemed stupid enough to choose such a place. It was obvious to him that the rock settlement sitting on top of the cave was very unstable. A dwarf had taught him that every rock surface has a weakness, and that, once that weakness is found, it only needs miserable force to crumble it.
Miserable force was all Aragorn had left.
End part 2
Review responses:
Merlraven: Thank you. I shall do my best to raise to your expectations, my lady. *bows and kisses Merlraven's hand*
Grumpy: *giggles at screen name like idiot* Oh, and the words... Well Aragorn's a bit of a smart ass. Dunno how well that'd work for the king but... I like it. Cheeky!Aragorn *g* Thanks, lovely.
Jadelyn Rashwe: *bows* This is actually... huh... my first attempt at a somewhat light-hearted fic. Plus, it's the first time I manage to down my rating to something acceptable to ff.net's standards. So I'm hoping I'll be able to keep it somewhat light, but I gotta make my readers think. It's my trademark. *bg*
Dshael: More, yes. Not done yet though. I have this thing about endings... *looks around innocently* thanks for the com though.
Rainydayz: HA! You know I stared at that part of the story like an idiot, refusing to believe that I'd written het? And romance to top it off. In fact, now that you mention it, I think I'm going to go stare at it some more in disbelief. *g* thanks Chiquita. Glad you enjoyed yourself.
Estelcontar: *g* I love you. Really. I do. It's very simple and clean: I love you. English isn't my native language, but I've been involved in fanfic since I was 14. I like to think I no longer need to mention that French is my first language before publishing a fic. I'm glad the language farts I have are kept mostly to myself. But without a beta, you may encounter strange wording and others. Please feel free to tell me! As for the unorthodox Aragorn, well what I call orthodox is what the writers of the fandom have made of the character. A dependant Aragorn who I don't think could survive on his own in the wild for more than a week. Always needing the help of the elves to get by. And that, frankly, makes me twitch. Read my bio about this bit, 'cause I could rant a lot here. *g* I'm a lengthy gal. There is one thing however. I read a fic with Aragorn where he was forced to kill someone in self-defence and didn't beat himself up over it for years. I was in shock. *g* It shouldn't be too long for the updates, but I've been stuck for the past two days. I think two days is my top limit before I blow up and do something drastic about it. Not sure whether the readers like that though. *g*
