A few hours after Legolas' capture, the orc leader approached his prisoners. "Up! We leave."
Elrohir looked at him. "But they are unfit for travel!" he said, pointing at Legolas and Aragorn.
"I do not care!" the orc yelled. "We leave now!"
Sighing, Elladan gently woke Legolas, while Elrohir helped Aragorn to his feet, wanting to keep up the ruse of the human's 'illness'.
Legolas opened his eyes at Elladan's touch, blinking up at the sky.
"Come," Elladan said. "They are forcing us to travel."
Legolas said nothing, wincing as he sat up.
Elladan helped him to his feet, pulling Legolas' good arm over his own shoulders and wrapping an arm around the injured elf's waist.
The orc leader watched them, thinking. He wanted their captives to walk on their own this time—as they were sick of carrying them—but how would he prevent these two, unbound as they were, from escaping?
Grabbing the arm of an orc that walked by, he pointed at Legolas. "Take that one."
The orc walked towards the elf, but stopped when his leader spoke again.
"Wait, take the human instead." The orc leader knew that humans had less endurance than elves, and wanted to travel as far as possible before nightfall. "If any of you attempts escape," he told the three elves, "the human dies."
Aragorn forced himself to remain limp as the orc slung him over its shoulder.
At least Estel won't have to walk, Legolas thought, as they began moving again. He hated to show weakness, but was grateful for Elladan's support after having been so abused by the orcs.
They walked in silence for an hour before Legolas suddenly groaned. The terrain had become uneven, constantly jolting his broken arm. It was hurting so badly now that he couldn't remain silent any longer.
Aragorn, where he hung over the orc's shoulder, looked up at the sound, but the orc turned around to see what was wrong, facing Aragorn away from his friend.
Most of the foul creatures looked at Legolas, but the elf straightened his posture, lifting his chin and walking on, refusing to show more weakness.
The orcs turned back around, continuing the journey.
As soon as they did, Legolas slumped against Elladan again, who held onto him tighter.
Elrohir sighed, glancing at Aragorn, who looked very upset at his friend's suffering.
Sunset came quickly, and the orcs finally called a halt, to the four friend's relief.
The orc holding Aragorn dropped him to the ground and tied him to a tree.
Aragorn kept his eyes closed, still feigning illness. When the orc moved away, he opened them, frowning when an orc roughly grabbed Legolas away from Elladan, likewise tying the injured elf to a tree only a few feet from his own.
Aragorn's blood boiled when the orc looped the rope across the upper arm of Legolas' broken limb. There is no reason for that, the human thought. They should've left his arm free! Legolas is incapable of using it, so why restrain it? He sighed. What other reason; to cause him pain.
Elrohir was tied to a tree not too far from Legolas, and the orcs surprisingly left Elladan free.
"You will give them the care that ensures their survival until we return to our campsite," said the orc leader. "If you attempt escape, I will kill each of your friends before your very eyes!"
"I will not leave my friends!" Elladan exclaimed. "And I would certainly not be the cause of their deaths!"
The orc smiled. "Just as I thought. Elven loyalty," he said, in a mocking voice. Then he threw another waterskin at him, and walked off.
"Legolas?" Aragorn whispered. "Are you all right?"
Legolas' eyes were tightly closed, but he opened them at the sound of his friend's voice. Pain could be clearly read on his usually calm face.
Elladan muttered angrily, moving to Legolas and grabbing at the rope that pinned his friend's broken arm.
"What are you doing?!" they suddenly heard.
Realizing that it looked like he was setting Legolas free, Elladan felt his stomach drop to the ground. "His a-arm is broken!" he exclaimed, unable to prevent a stutter, terrified that the orc was about to make good on his horrifying threat. "I am merely trying to ease his pain!"
The orc leader approached them, pointedly looking at Legolas. The elf's forearm was broken, not his upper arm, but the rope would cause more pain to it nonetheless. The orc didn't care how much pain his captives suffered—he rather enjoyed inflicting it—but he also liked playing games with his prisoner's minds. "Remember my threat," he said to Elladan. "I look forward to carrying it out!" With a feral grin, he left.
Elladan looked back at Legolas, sighing with anxiety. His hands shook as he tried to push the rope higher up, so that it no longer pinned his friend's arm.
Legolas winced when the rope brushed his shoulder, the site where the orc had slashed him.
"Forgive me," Elladan whispered, finally succeeding in pushing the rope free. Now Legolas had the rope holding him to the tree by his left collarbone, where it then crossed over his chest and right arm. There were also ropes tied around his stomach, preventing any kind of movement.
Elladan sighed, wishing that he'd never proposed this trip. "Forgive me, Legolas…I should never have dragged you out of Imladris."
Legolas shook his head. "Do not assume blame for something that you could not foresee."
"But I should've foreseen it," Elladan said. "When do you ever not get into trouble?"
Legolas gave a slight smile at that one.
"Here," said Elladan, opening the waterskin and holding it to his friend's lips.
Legolas drank his share, frowning when some of it spilled, as he couldn't tilt his head back with the tree in his way.
Elladan used part of his cloak to wipe the water from his friend's face, smiling gently.
"Hannon le," Legolas said, his eyes suddenly drooping tiredly as his battered body demanded rest.
"Sleep," Elladan told him. "Regain strength for our escape."
Legolas nodded, hoping that Elladan's words were more than just optimism.
Moving to his brothers, Elladan gave them some water before drinking the rest himself and lying near his twin.
"Escape, Elladan," he suddenly heard.
Sitting up, he looked at Aragorn. "What?"
Aragorn sighed. "Escape. You have a better chance of surviving this than we do."
Elladan shook his head. "No! We will all survive. If I escape, I will be signing your death warrants!"
"Hush!" Elrohir whispered, not wanting the orcs to hear their words.
Elladan lay down again, not enjoying the conversation. "Sleep!" he commanded his younger brothers. "When we escape, we escape together…"
=====
Aw, they're so brave! Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming! :) The next chapter contains more action and angst, so stay tuned! ;)