A/N: again, disclaimer in part one.don't own LOTR etc etc.
Long moments passed, and still the orcs did not attack. They filled the edge of the clearing 5 or 6 deep in places, yet they did not attack. This was strange behaviour for orcs - sneaking up so quietly that even an elf couldn't hear them, and now going against their usual behaviour of randomly attacking anything that lived. It didn't make sense. They had the complete advantage.
Slowly one of the orcs moved forward and threw a bundle of rags at Legolas' feet. Legolas made no move to pick it up. All together, as if to some unknown signal, the orcs turned and left as quickly as they came, although they didn't keep as quiet this time.
Neither Aragorn or Legolas let down their guard until the elf could no longer hear their clattering retreat.
Slowly he bent down and picked up the bundle, and sat down by the fire to unwrap it. It seemed that it was just a bundle of rags until finally there was a small leather pouch in the centre. Legolas untied it, and a small silver ring fell into his open palm. It was a delicate elvish patterned ring, with the interwoven lines and curves that marked it as such.
Aragorn saw the blood drain from his friend's face.
"What is it?" he asked, unsure why orcs would have such a thing of beauty, especially when they hated everything elvish. Legolas looked up at the ranger.
"This ring belonged to my brother." he replied, as he pulled out a matching ring from one of the small bags near his feet.
Some time later, Aragorn had heard everything there was to tell about Legolas' twin brother. They had been identical in every way - some even said they shared the same soul, they were that close. They were always together, and even their own father had trouble telling them apart.
He had died suddenly over two hundred years previously, in an attack by the giant spiders of their home, which had also left Legolas near death for weeks.
"I don't remember much of what happened that day - I was stung by one of he spiders when they first appeared." he told the ranger. "It didn't seem to have much effect, or so I thought, and I got up again to try and help, but I was stung again, by the same spider. Two doses of the venom was too much, and I woke over two weeks later to be told my brother had been carried off. They had found a skeleton after following the spiders to their nest, but they couldn't get his body. I told them that he wasn't dead - I
refused to believe it for years."
"What changed?"
The elf paused. "I don't know. I always thought that if he had died, something would have felt different - that I would have known, but I still felt like he was out there. I suppose time changes things. Looking back, I couldn't see any way that he could have survived being carried off to a spider nest, but now, I don't know." He stopped as he looked at the ring again.
"Do you think he's alive after all?"
Legolas took a deep breath, but didn't reply. Instead he started to pack up his things.
"What are you doing?" Aragorn knew the answer, even as he spoke. His friend was planning on following the orcs.
"I'm going after them. They won't wait until morning to move, and neither will I. They had my brother's ring - what if he is alive, and they have him too? I can't let that happen."
"Then I'm coming with you. I don't like this - didn't you see how strangely those orcs were behaving?"
Aragorn replied as he too packed up his things, and both rode silently away from the camp after the orcs.
.....
The trail had been easy to follow, and the orcs were making no effort to hide their tracks. Near dawn, they found the camsite near the Shire's southern borders. Mountains loomed dark in the distance, about a day's hard ride away. There were at least fifty orcs in total.
All of a sudden, Aragorn's horse shied and whinnied as
an orc arrow sped past its nose. The noise drew the attention of the whole camp to them. In seconds, fifty fully armed orcs were speeding in their direction.
Aragorn and Legolas turned and rode hard away from their pursuers. They would have made it had they not crossed paths with a second band of twenty orcs travelling to meet the first group of fifty. As it was, they were cornered, and two against seventy wasn't very good odds at all.
The orcs advanced on their prey, driving them back into the rock wall behind them. Every time an orc came too near, both would lash out. Legolas had used all his arrows, and the orcs were getting closer.
Their sheer numbers made them invincible. Legolas
turned at Aragorn's cry, and saw two orc arrows in the
man's leg. The distraction was just the opportunity the orcs needed, and they took it violently, causing Legolas' world to fade to darkness.
REVIEWS PLEASE?!
Long moments passed, and still the orcs did not attack. They filled the edge of the clearing 5 or 6 deep in places, yet they did not attack. This was strange behaviour for orcs - sneaking up so quietly that even an elf couldn't hear them, and now going against their usual behaviour of randomly attacking anything that lived. It didn't make sense. They had the complete advantage.
Slowly one of the orcs moved forward and threw a bundle of rags at Legolas' feet. Legolas made no move to pick it up. All together, as if to some unknown signal, the orcs turned and left as quickly as they came, although they didn't keep as quiet this time.
Neither Aragorn or Legolas let down their guard until the elf could no longer hear their clattering retreat.
Slowly he bent down and picked up the bundle, and sat down by the fire to unwrap it. It seemed that it was just a bundle of rags until finally there was a small leather pouch in the centre. Legolas untied it, and a small silver ring fell into his open palm. It was a delicate elvish patterned ring, with the interwoven lines and curves that marked it as such.
Aragorn saw the blood drain from his friend's face.
"What is it?" he asked, unsure why orcs would have such a thing of beauty, especially when they hated everything elvish. Legolas looked up at the ranger.
"This ring belonged to my brother." he replied, as he pulled out a matching ring from one of the small bags near his feet.
Some time later, Aragorn had heard everything there was to tell about Legolas' twin brother. They had been identical in every way - some even said they shared the same soul, they were that close. They were always together, and even their own father had trouble telling them apart.
He had died suddenly over two hundred years previously, in an attack by the giant spiders of their home, which had also left Legolas near death for weeks.
"I don't remember much of what happened that day - I was stung by one of he spiders when they first appeared." he told the ranger. "It didn't seem to have much effect, or so I thought, and I got up again to try and help, but I was stung again, by the same spider. Two doses of the venom was too much, and I woke over two weeks later to be told my brother had been carried off. They had found a skeleton after following the spiders to their nest, but they couldn't get his body. I told them that he wasn't dead - I
refused to believe it for years."
"What changed?"
The elf paused. "I don't know. I always thought that if he had died, something would have felt different - that I would have known, but I still felt like he was out there. I suppose time changes things. Looking back, I couldn't see any way that he could have survived being carried off to a spider nest, but now, I don't know." He stopped as he looked at the ring again.
"Do you think he's alive after all?"
Legolas took a deep breath, but didn't reply. Instead he started to pack up his things.
"What are you doing?" Aragorn knew the answer, even as he spoke. His friend was planning on following the orcs.
"I'm going after them. They won't wait until morning to move, and neither will I. They had my brother's ring - what if he is alive, and they have him too? I can't let that happen."
"Then I'm coming with you. I don't like this - didn't you see how strangely those orcs were behaving?"
Aragorn replied as he too packed up his things, and both rode silently away from the camp after the orcs.
.....
The trail had been easy to follow, and the orcs were making no effort to hide their tracks. Near dawn, they found the camsite near the Shire's southern borders. Mountains loomed dark in the distance, about a day's hard ride away. There were at least fifty orcs in total.
All of a sudden, Aragorn's horse shied and whinnied as
an orc arrow sped past its nose. The noise drew the attention of the whole camp to them. In seconds, fifty fully armed orcs were speeding in their direction.
Aragorn and Legolas turned and rode hard away from their pursuers. They would have made it had they not crossed paths with a second band of twenty orcs travelling to meet the first group of fifty. As it was, they were cornered, and two against seventy wasn't very good odds at all.
The orcs advanced on their prey, driving them back into the rock wall behind them. Every time an orc came too near, both would lash out. Legolas had used all his arrows, and the orcs were getting closer.
Their sheer numbers made them invincible. Legolas
turned at Aragorn's cry, and saw two orc arrows in the
man's leg. The distraction was just the opportunity the orcs needed, and they took it violently, causing Legolas' world to fade to darkness.
REVIEWS PLEASE?!