Ah, yes, chapter five finally comes around. We get to meet Zanzibar this chapter. FYI, if you don't like him, no, you can't kill him. Feel free to kick him as much as you want, though. Just don't hurt him too much, because I need him.
For full disclaimer and such, see first chapter. (Why do you keep saying that?) Because I have to. Now be quite before I slap you into next week.
Response to Reviewers:
LEDlorien7: Ok, he had to hurt them for... I don't know why. Um... so he could get them out. Strider doesn't talk because I didn't want him to, and Legolas can't read Strider's mind, savvy? Thanks for the review.
A/N: Just to let you know, the way you see Sarban here is just a façade. You can't kill him because he plays a major role later.
Italics denote thoughts.
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The men surrounding Legolas smirked as the elf glanced around for an opening. Sarban shouldered his way through the circle to sneer at Legolas with evil intent evident in his eyes.
"Look what we have here: an elf. We'll bring him back to Zanzibar so he can decide what to do. Bind his hands." Sarban ordered, still sneering. A few moved to do his bidding, but Legolas struck them down. The rest of the men moved towards the prince and the sheer numbers soon overpowered him. His arms were jerked roughly behind his back and bound tightly. Sarban glared at the elf and grabbed Legolas' chin in his hand, forcing the prince's head upward to look him in the eye. "Don't ever try anything like that again, elf!" he spat the word like a curse. Legolas just glared at the human and stayed silent. Sarban suddenly backhanded Legolas across the face, drawing blood. Legolas wiped the blood away from the corner of his mouth with his shoulder. Sarban turned to his men. "We're going back. Zanzibar wanted us back to camp before nightfall." Sarban stated, turning into the woods, his men following, dragging Legolas along.
When the party reached camp, Legolas was lead directly to Zanzibar and forced to his knees. He regained his feet only to be forced back down by Sarban.
"Sarban, let the elf rise if he wishes. Unbind his hands also." Zanzibar said to Sarban.
"Sir, are you sure that's the safest thing to do? After all, I've heard that elves can single handedly kill at least 100 men at once." Sarban seemed worried.
"Sarban, you know that's just a rumor. A single elf can't do anything like that, am I right, elf?" Zanzibar turned his attention to the elf, who kept his mouth closed. "Not the talkative sort, are you? No matter. Just unbind his hands." Sarban obeyed, muttering as he did. The ropes fell away from Legolas' wrists and the prince rubbed them to get the circulation flowing back through them. "Now, tell me, who are you?" Zanzibar asked.
"I'm called Malrand." Legolas used the name of his friend.
"So then, Malrand, what brings you here?" Zanzibar looked barely interested.
"I was heading to Rivendell to visit some friends of mine."
"Really. That's quite interesting. Tell me, do you know anything about the village of Cortiago?"
"Cortiago? No, I don't. Never heard of it." The prince replied.
"How do we know that he's telling the truth?" Sarban leaned against the trunk of a tree.
"Sarban," Zanzibar sighed. "I tire of your contradiction to my orders. Now let the elf be."
"What I tire of is that elf's attitude. He needs to be taught a lesson." Sarban muttered as he pulled his knife out of its sheath, aiming for Legolas' back before releasing it. Legolas eyes narrowed, but he stayed calm, facing Zanzibar until the last possible second. He whirled around and caught the knife by its point before it hit his chest. He cast it to the ground, not looking the least bit fazed.
"You might want to watch where you throw things, human." Legolas said calmly.
"You want trouble? I'll give you trouble." Sarban snarled as he lunged at Legolas. Legolas, using his elven grace, sidestepped the rush and shoved Sarban to the ground. Jumping sideways to avoid Sarban's arm, Legolas stumbled over a tree root, but caught himself and looked up to see Sarban's rush. Legolas went to sidestep again, but Sarban had anticipated the move and caught Legolas across the chest with one of his arms, sending both of them to the ground. The elf used the human's momentum to send Sarban flying over his head, jumping to his feet as soon as the human's weight was off his body. Sarban tried to get up but was forced back to the ground with a boot in the middle of his chest. Legolas moved his foot to Sarban's throat, applying pressure to the human's throat before stepping back.
"That was just a warning. Next time I won't be so lenient, so be careful, human." Legolas glared at the prone human, who was gasping in air.
"Very impressive, Malrand. You seem to have some skill in hand-to-hand combat. I was beginning to wonder who would win that, seeing that you two were evenly matched. I like your style, elf, using the other's strength against them, as well as your own strength and agility. It's very unique. Where did you learn?" Zanzibar's interest seemed to be caught on Legolas' quick defeat of his second in command.
"I learned in Mirkwood, from a certain prince, Legolas Greenleaf." Legolas chose his words wisely. Zanzibar nodded.
"The crown prince? I'd give up anything to get my hands on him. His father would give anything to have him back safely." Zanzibar got this look of longing in his eyes. Legolas mentally hit himself. That was stupid. This ranger is mad! "What do you say, Malrand. How about a partnership?"
"But sir…" Sarban croaked, still massaging his throat.
"Not a word from you, Sarban. You've already showed that your loyalty leaves much to be desired. Meanwhile, Malrand," Zanzibar laid a hand on the elf's shoulder "Has shown that he is loyal. Had he ducked, I might be dead. The choice isn't yours to make."
"Yes, sir." Sarban whispered, glaring at the elf, who shot him a smug smile.
"What do you say, Malrand?" Zanzibar turned back to the elf.
"Well…" Legolas said. He seemed to be contemplating the idea. "If you insist, I will take the position that you're so generously offering a stranger. I won't let you down, sir." Legolas knelt before Zanzibar in an act of submission. Zanzibar was surprised at the act.
"Don't kneel to me. It does not suit you. We are partners now." Zanzibar gripped the elf's shoulder. Legolas rose, briefly noting Sarban's disappearance into the woods. "I'll fill you in on my plans, because I'm sure that no one has told you what's going on in about two weeks." Zanzibar filled the elf in on his plans, Legolas listening intently and nodding at the appropriate times. When he finished, Legolas took a few seconds to digest the information before glancing around in search for Sarban.
"Zanzibar, have you seen Sarban in the past half hour or so?" Legolas asked causally. Zanzibar shook his head.
"No, I haven't. Why do you ask?"
"I meant to congratulate him on lasting so long against me. Not many humans have lasted more than a few seconds. He's a good fighter, and I think it would deplete your force to loose him. He's quite talented with stealth also. I didn't even know that I was surrounded until I spotted a few men in the underbrush of the forest. Not many humans are able to do that to me." Legolas replied cooly.
"I think I saw him slip out of camp headed northwest. If you wish, you can go and find him, but I warn you, after a defeat, he's rather moody for a while. Just be careful. I don't want you to get killed so soon." Zanzibar said, pure concern coloring his voice.
"I think I can handle him. I thank you for your concern, but you have no need to worry over me. I'll be fine." Legolas darted off into the woods, picking up Sarban's trail shortly.
A muffled cry for help sounded, and Legolas steered himself towards the sound, stopping short of the edge of a cliff to look down on Sarban's figure hanging off of a tree root. The elf chuckled, calling the human's attention with the sound.
"How did you manage to get yourself into a position like that?" Legolas called down.
"Ha ha, very funny, elf. Just give me some help. I don't feel like falling to my death right now." Sarban shifted his hands on the rough wood, looking slightly worried. The prince nodded, backing up to a tree not too far from the edge of the cliff. Tying one end of the rope that appeared in his hand to the tree, he cast the other down to the human, who promptly grabbed the rope and began to haul himself up hand over hand. The prince watched the human for some time, and then glanced down at the rope, noting that it was fraying. He leaned over the edge of the cliff, gauging the time that Sarban had.
"Sarban, you might want to speed up a little. The rope is starting to fray and it won't hold for much longer." Legolas called down to the human, who nodded and started to climb faster. Legolas dropped onto his stomach and extended his hand to the human. When Sarban was a little higher up on the rope, he took the elf's hand without question just as the rope snapped. "See if you can find any hand- and foot-holds in the cliff and hold on for a while." Sarban obeyed, looking at the elf with confusion, but not voicing his thoughts. Legolas pushed himself away from the edge of the cliff and swiftly untied the rope from the tree, grabbing one end and tossing the other to Sarban.
"What's the other end attached to?" Sarban asked. Legolas held up the other end.
"Don't worry, I'm not about to let you fall. I need at least one ally in the camp." Legolas replied, bracing himself as the human began to climb once more. A few more minutes passed before Sarban reached the top of the cliff and grabbed a hand full of the thick grass growing on the top of the cliff. Legolas dropped the rope and grabbed Sarban under the arms, hauling the human to safety.
"Well, that was a close one. Thank you, Greenleaf." Sarban said, getting to his feet.
"Sarban…" Legolas trailed off as he sat down.
"It was just this once. I'll call you by the name Malrand from now on. Where'd you get the name?"
"A friend of mine. It's the only way to keep myself safe."
"Why did you come after me?" Sarban asked after a moment of silence. The elf looked up.
"I just wanted to congratulate you on a good plan. And to let you know that I'm impressed at your strength as a leader and as a fighter. If that had been a fair fight, I'm not sure if I could have won so easily. You're very good. Who taught you to fight like that?"
"Strider. When we first met. We became close friends
after just a few days, and he offered to teach me… to improve my fighting
skills, he said." Sarban chuckled at the memory. "You can call it good thinking
on Strider's part, but he taught me in a time when Orc attacks were frequent. I
saved both of our lives with his techniques."
"Really. That doesn't surprise me in the least." Legolas glanced up at the position of the sun. Rising, the human stared at the sun along with him. "We should get back soon. I'll go first so Zanzibar won't suspect anything. When's your next meeting with Strider?"
"In a few days. When we decided on the plan, we also decided to meet every other day until a few days before the attack. That gives us about a week and a half to discover a way to stop this." Sarban replied. Legolas nodded, starting into the woods, leaving Sarban to ponder his thoughts before starting back to the camp a few minutes after the elf.
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"We attack in the dead of night, coming down upon Cortiago from the north. We make for the center of the village first, killing all that oppose us, and then setting some of the outlying buildings aflame, depending on which way the wind is blowing. When everything is destroyed, we wait for the elves to come around to see what happened to the village, and we attack them as well. How big are their parties usually, Malrand?" The elf looked up from the sketch of the plan in the dirt before him. He shook his head.
"I'm not sure. It usually depends on how much danger they think there might be. But I don't think that they'll send out a party that's too large, seeing that they'll think that it's Orcs that attacked the village, and Orcs usually don't stay around for too long." The elf weighed each word carefully, so as not to endanger his safety. Zanzibar nodded, satisfied at the information that the prince had given him.
"Good, good. I think that we may just be able to take control of Rivendell after all." The human leader smiled smugly. "You are dismissed, Malrand. Thank you for your help." The elf rose and, inclining his head to the human, started back into the forest. He had gone about two hundred yards when he stopped and stepped behind a tree, letting out a low birdcall. Sarban dropped out of the tree and turned to the elf.
"What did you find out?" the human asked, anxiously.
"That Zanzibar is mad." The elf stated. The human rolled his eyes.
"Other than that. I knew that already. What of his plans?" Sarban asked anxiously. Legolas told him what he had found out. Sarban frowned. "He's changed the plans. I have to tell Strider this soon or we won't stand a chance to save that village."
"You're lucky that you've planned a meeting tonight. I'd tell him myself, but if I left camp, Zanzibar would suspect something. Besides, you can slip out of camp unseen, since no one pays much attention to you anymore. Zanzibar expects me to look after some of the doings in camp. I'll arrange the watches so that the people who are the most prone to fall asleep on late watches are the ones on duty, just to ensure you a safe passage in and out of camp." The human nodded, turning to go. Legolas placed a hand on the other's shoulder, calling the other's attention back to him. "If either of them ask, I'm fine and have received no injuries at…" A commotion in the camp cut the elf off mid sentence. "I'll tell you the rest later." Legolas turned back towards camp to see what was going on.
"Malrand! Where are you?" Zanzibar appeared from the movement of the camp, beckoning Legolas to follow him. The elf did so, curiosity mirrored in his eyes. Zanzibar led the prince to the area of the camp that the most confusion seemed to be coming from. The circle of men parted for their leader and the elf, revealing a younger elf, beaten and bound to a tree in their midst. At first, Legolas didn't recognize the elf, but when the figure lifted his head, Legolas' eye widened in shock.
TBC~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I think I might be getting better at decent cliffies there. Maybe not. NE ways… as I said before, you can't kill any characters until I finish this. But by then, you may find those characters already dead.
Please R&R. I love to hear what people think of my work!
Namarie!
~Nimeneth~