"Excuse me?"
"What do you want, elf?"
Elrohir sighed as his body bounced with each step that the orc took. "Would you mind putting me down?"
The orc laughed. "And why would I do that?"
"Well," said Elrohir, sheepishly. "I need to…ah…answer the call of nature."
"Talk to the trees where you are, elf."
Elrohir gave a nervous laugh. "That's not what I mean. I have to…you know."
It took a minute for the orc to understand. He laughed again, stopping, to Elrohir's surprise. He shouted something to the other orcs, who also laughed as they halted.
"Estel!" Elrohir called, as the orc roughly dropped him. "Nature calls!"
Aragorn frowned, wondering what Elrohir was talking about. He suddenly found himself dumped on the ground, and the orc carrying him cut his bonds.
"If either of you try to run, this elf dies!" said the orc holding Elladan.
"Don't hurt him," Aragorn quickly said. "We won't attempt to escape!"
Elrohir grabbed his arm, and they both quickly vanished behind a tree, as if wanting privacy.
"What in Middle Earth are you doing?" Aragorn asked his brother, who looked over his shoulder to be sure that the orcs couldn't hear them.
"Hush," said Elrohir, still holding onto his brother's arm. "Listen; there are elves not far behind us."
Aragorn sighed in relief at the news. "How do you know?"
"The trees speak of it," Elrohir told him. "Mayhap Legolas went back to Imladris and gathered a group to find us. We need to stop so that they can catch up." He sighed, giving Aragorn an odd look. "You need to play dead."
Aragorn blinked. "I need to what?"
Elrohir nodded. "Fall ill, suddenly. I will tell the orcs that you suffer frequent odd spells and need to rest for a time…"
"What makes you think they'll listen to you?" Aragorn interrupted.
"I will tell them that if they do not, that you will die and they will lose their chance to torture you when we reach their home," Elrohir said, not able to hold back a slight smile.
Aragorn blinked, thinking that he was joking. "You are serious."
Elrohir's smile faded. "This is the only plan that I can think of."
Aragorn sighed, but reluctantly nodded.
When the two of them came out from around the tree, the orc holding Elladan suddenly dropped him, apparently now allowing the older twin his own turn.
An orc grabbed Aragorn and held a knife to his throat; threatening Elladan with his death should he try to escape.
The older twin knew that Elrohir and Aragorn had discussed something; he'd heard their voices with his sharp elven ears. Deliberately walking towards his twin, he looked a question at him.
"Aphad min tegi," Elrohir whispered, as he walked past.
Aragorn stood in the orc's clutches, drooping his eyelids and occasionally swaying, in an attempt to appear ill. He increased his breathing rate, and deliberately shook his body, as he waited for Elladan to return.
The older twin came back quickly, and shot Aragorn a concerned look. "Estel?" he exclaimed.
In answer, Aragorn gasped and forced his body to go limp, narrowly missing the orc's knife as he fell.
The twins both gave exclamations of shock and fear, rushing to his side.
"What is this!" exclaimed the orc who'd held the human at knifepoint.
"He is ill!" Elrohir exclaimed, gently pushing Aragorn's hair out of his face. "This happens to him often. We cannot go on or he will die!"
"So?" said the orc. "Let him."
A chill went down Elladan's spine. Looking at his twin, he said nothing, not sure what his brothers had planned.
"We need only stay here until he wakes," Elrohir told the orc. "Do you not wish to return home with three prizes rather than two?"
The orcs knew that Elrohir was only saying that to save the human's life, but the elf's words were true nonetheless. Turning, he bellowed to the rest of the orcs in the Black Speech.
The twins paid no attention, instead pretending to care for their fallen brother, who was playing the part of a sick man very well.
"I wonder how many times you faked illness to Ada?" Elladan whispered.
Aragorn suddenly smiled, before quickly returning his expression to a pained one.
Two orcs suddenly approached them, one of them quickly holding a knife to Aragorn's throat as a threat while the other tied Elladan and Elrohir's ankles, leaving their hands free to tend to their brother.
Moving away, the orcs settled nearby, keeping their weapons in view of the elves.
The twins exchanged glances, before turning their attention to Aragorn again, pretending to check for fever and monitor his pulse.
"Dim-witted orcs," they suddenly heard their 'sick' brother whisper, an amused expression on his face.
=================
Legolas leaned against a tree, breathing heavily with pain and fatigue. He knew that he was close to finding his friends; he was finally sensing the orcs' presence. What he couldn't discern, for some reason, was how close the creatures were.
Go back the way you came, the tree suddenly said. You are in great danger.
"I need to find my friends," Legolas replied aloud, resting his forehead against the bark.
You cannot fight such a large number alone, the tree argued, speaking of the orcs. They will harm you.
Legolas sighed. I know. He pushed off from the tree and continued walking, no longer bothering to wipe the rainwater from his face.
Suddenly he heard a noise: the snap of a twig. Pulling out one of his knives, he held it at the ready as he searched for the sound's cause.
His elven senses screamed orcs! at him, and he knew that he was caught.
A loud shout suddenly filled the air as a group of the foul creatures ran out of the woods.
Legolas raised his knife, knowing how useless it would be against so many. He slashed it at the first orc that reached him, but it moved to the side as more orcs swarmed the elf, grabbing him roughly.
Legolas gasped in pain when a hand made contact with his broken arm, and suddenly found himself being dragged—by his good arm, thankfully—into the woods.
The trees surrounding them swayed their branches, distressed to see the wounded elf captured.
Legolas winced when an orc suddenly kicked him, making him stumble. The other creatures laughed, and Legolas wondered what physical state the twins and Aragorn were in.
Reaching a clearing, Legolas saw more orcs nearby, and quickly looked for his friends. He spotted the twins sitting on the ground, next to Aragorn…who lay unmoving…
=================
"Aphad min tegi," : Sindarin Elvish for "Follow our lead."