A/N: Onwards – to chapter three!
~Chapter 3~ (like I hadn't told you all already)
Yutshrug was beginning to howl at the top of his lungs, as if the pressure was too much for him. Grôltakh considered lopping his head off to shut him up.
"Quiet, you!" An Uruk bellowed at the snaga on his knees. "Or I'll give you something to cry about!" Yutshrug stifled his howling, and managed to restrict it to a small sniffle. Ragnäkah looked back to the end of the tunnel from where they had come and the countless numbers of orcs behind them, and then he looked towards to the blocked exit. A faint light was shimmering there, which became a large yellow glow. Ragnäkah realised what was about to happen and sank into the water like Yutshrug. Grôltakh stared confusedly from the two orcs crouching in the water to the glowing light near the end of the tunnel.
"Wha-?!" There was a deafening explosion and Grôltakh was thrown off of his feet. Some of the tunnel roof started collapsing, but the river water gushed out, free to flow its course again. As light shone through, the Uruks in the group forced the snaga out of the tunnel and into the sunlight. Somehow, the three orcs managed to scramble back onto their knees and crawl out into the world, passing the bodies of dead orcs at the very mouth of the tunnel. Grôltakh noted that one of them was still clinging a piece of metal in his one hand and some flint in another; they had used some of Sharkú's black powder that turned into exploding flame to open up the exit.
The young newborn lingered in the tunnel shadows, his cloak fully covering his head and hands. An older orc, Droshbrak was convulsing in the sunlight when he noticed the cloak on the younger orc.
"'Ere! You gimme that!" He yelled, grabbing a corner of the cloak and attempting to pull it off of him. The cloak opened up, revealing what was – or rather what was not – underneath. Droshbrak jerked back in shock.
"Where are your clothes?"
"Don't have any," the newborn snarled in reply.
"Well you're going to have none in a minute!" Droshbrak dived at the cloaked orc, but he wasn't quick enough as the young one ran off into the sunlight and hid behind some of the Uruks, sheltering in their shadows. "Bloody runt," Droshbrak muttered, cutting his losses and finding another smaller orc to pick on.
Yutshrug surveyed their surroundings. They were closer to the Misty Mountains, and to Fangorn forest by the looks of it, but Yutshrug could have sworn that Fangorn was over there in the distance.
"Where'd that fucking forest come from?" Grôltakh sneered, pointing to the wood nearby.
"That's Fangorn, isn't it?" Yutshrug asked.
"It can't be! Fangorn is in the distance – you can see where we have hewn down some of its trees. But this forest nearby doesn't seem damaged at all," Ragnäkah intoned. Their conversation was interrupted by one of the Uruk-hai, rallying round all of the snaga to lead them to a plan of action.
"Now gather round you slugs! We'll not be having any picnics today! We march to Helm's Deep!" Grôltakh turned and snorted at the Uruk.
"Now what would a new-bred know of leadership? What would you know of the outside world? I bet this is the first time that you have even left the pits! And why didn't you Uruk-hai stay and defend your master like you were created to do?" The Uruks bristled with rage, especially the 'leader'. He stepped towards Grôltakh, baring his teeth and snarling viciously. Grôltakh remained unmoved by the performance.
"I do not have to explain my actions to a lowly crawler such as yourself! We could not be of any more use to the master there, so we might as well make use of ourselves at the battle." The Uruk continued his little lecture, but Grôltakh became distracted by something from the nearby forest; an enormous stone. It flew through the air in a curve and landed on the 'leader'. The young cloaked orc decided that it might not be so safe by the Uruk-hai after all.
"Well, he lasted long, didn't he?" Ragnäkah muttered matter-of-factly, leaning over the crumpled form of the Uruk. Both Grôltakh and Yutshrug shook their heads in reply, nearly as unresponsive as Ragnäkah.
"I'm not going through that forest, I'm telling ya," Yutshrug muttered. Grôltakh eyed the forest wearily, before he jumped up onto a rock high above the heads of the others.
"We shall go to Gondor!" He proclaimed. That received some incredulous stares and mutterings. "The battle of Helm's Deep will be over by the time we get there, so we might as well make ourselves useful elsewhere." Another stone flew from the forest – aimed at him – and Grôltakh threw himself down from the rock and onto the ground, into the crowd. The rock smashed against the place where Grôltakh had been standing only moments before, cracking the stone and rumbling down the one side of the hill. Grôltakh crouched there gaping for the moment on his hands and knees before he recomposed himself. "Those who want to follow me to Gondor may do so!" He shouted to them one more time. And with that, he turned towards the Misty Mountains and began to walk. Yutshrug and Ragnäkah quickly filed in by his side, followed by other orcs, including the cloaked one. Reluctantly, after taking one last look at the rock that had killed one of their numbers, the Uruk-hai decided to follow Grôltakh.
"How are we going to get there?" Ragnäkah inquired. "And what about food?"
"We will go through the mines," he mumbled in reply. "I have an old friend there – if he hasn't managed to get himself killed – and he has a favour to repay me. And as for food…" Grôltakh trenched onwards, looking straight ahead, deep in thought before he made his conclusion. "We shall see." As the column of hundreds marched onwards, up towards Moria, Grôltakh shielded his face from the horrendous light of the sun.
~End of Chapter 3~