Hey everyone! Here's the angst-filled chapter 11! Enjoy! ;)

=========

A splash of water in the face woke Legolas the next morning. He gasped at the rude awakening, blinking the wetness from his eyes as he looked into the ugly face of the orc leader.

Before Legolas even had a chance to think, the orc slapped him hard across the face. "Don't say another word, elf!"

Legolas closed his eyes against the stinging pain, having no idea what the orc was talking about. "Mani?" he asked, without thinking.

Another slap was his answer, and when he opened his eyes, he saw his friends staring at him.

"You were speaking Elvish in your sleep!" said a distressed Elladan, who was sitting beside him. "I tried to wake you, but…"

Legolas sighed, closing his eyes. Orcs hated all things having to do with elves, and that included their language.

His bonds suddenly fell to the ground, and he opened his eyes with a cry of pain when his broken arm was grabbed and he was roughly pulled to his feet.

Aragorn struggled in his own bonds, fighting to free himself and go to Legolas' aid. He knew that it was hopeless, but he refused to accept that.

Elladan jumped to his feet, but the orc drew a knife and held it to Legolas' throat, pressing it just hard enough to draw tiny drops of blood. "Come closer and he dies right NOW!" the orc yelled.

Legolas struggled in the orc's grasp. "Elladan! Nor! Drego!" he exclaimed.

Aragorn and the twins inwardly cringed at Legolas using Elvish to tell Elladan to escape…

The orc growled at Legolas' words, whipping the elf around and punching him in the stomach, sending him to the ground. "Use that speech again and I will cut out your tongue!"

Legolas landed on his broken arm when he fell, sending agony through the limb. He automatically gasped at the pain, but the orc's punch had driven the air from his lungs, so all that came out was a strangled choke.

Aragorn and the twins were horrified at the sight of Legolas being so abused, and Elladan had to literally fight himself to remain where he was, clutching desperately to the tree that Elrohir was tied too, lest his interference cause Legolas' death.

The orc stood over the injured elf, smiling at the sound of his chokes and gasps as he regained his breath and dealt with the pain.

"Not enjoying this, are you?" the orc said to Aragorn and the twins. "Upset that you can't protect your little elf friend?"

Despite his pain, Legolas frowned at being called 'little'. Looking over at the twins and human, he could see why the orcs would consider him smaller compared to them…the twins and Aragorn were all broader than he was, and the twins were even taller then he and Aragorn.

Legolas closed his eyes when he felt the orc grab him, and didn't bother resisting. Before he even realized that he was on his feet again, he was sent to the ground once more, by a vicious punch to his face.

The rest of the orc company stood by, cheering and laughing at their leader's actions, each of them wishing that they could get a piece of the elf.

Legolas kept his eyes closed as everything spun around him. The pain in his arm was so excruciating that it brought tears to his eyes, and he wished for unconsciousness to take him.

The orc dragged Legolas up again, and suddenly called over two others to hold the elf up.

It was obvious to Aragorn what the foul creature intended to do. "No!" he yelled. "Daro! Daro!"

The twins realized what Aragorn was doing, and joined him in yelling Elvish, to get the orc's attention onto them instead of their half-conscious friend.

The orc raised his fist to hit Legolas, but stopped when he heard them.

Aragorn thought they'd succeeded, but his hope fell when the orc grinned at them.

"I will not fall for your trick," he said. "As punishment for speaking the elf-tongue, you shall watch as your friend suffers!" With that, he turned and hit Legolas again.

The orcs holding the elf up laughed when his knees buckled, and gripped his upper arms tighter.

Legolas was lost in a sea of pain, his consciousness slipping. Elladan was right, he thought. I should never have let him drag me out of Imladris…

The orc eventually grew tired of raining blows upon the elf, and stopped, admiring his work.

Legolas hung limply between the two orcs, with blood and bruises marring his fair features.

The orc looked at their surroundings, and laughed when he saw a very large rock lying in the grass nearby. Walking over to it, he picked it up and brought it back.

Aragorn felt his stomach drop out from under him when he realized what the orc planned to do. "No!" he shouted.

The orc ignored him, and put all his strength into swinging the rock at the blond-haired elf.

It connected brutally with the left side of Legolas' head, and the two orcs released him, letting him fall to the ground.

Elladan and Elrohir stared in shock at their friend, who they weren't even sure had survived the blow.

"Let them loose," the orc leader said, throwing the rock to the ground. "We move out."

Elladan, already free, quickly ran to Legolas and knelt beside him, cringing to see the golden hair already starting to turn red.

"Does he live?!" Aragorn shouted, as an orc untied him from the tree.

Elladan pressed his fingers to Legolas' neck. "Yes," he said, sighing with relief. Before he could assess his friend, his arm was suddenly grabbed and he was pulled to his feet, where an orc started tying his arms behind his back.

Aragorn felt his bonds finally slip away, and he bolted towards Legolas before the orc had a chance to stop him.

Elladan and Elrohir watched their brother quickly check Legolas over, while two orcs strode to Aragorn with scowls on their faces.

One of them bent down, intending to sling Legolas over its shoulder.

"Wait!" Aragorn yelled. "He cannot be moved!"

"Then leave him!" said the orc, walking away. "We might as well kill that elf, he's half-dead anyway!"

"No!" Aragorn shouted, protectively covering his unconscious friend with his own body.

The orcs started moving out, and one of them grabbed Aragorn's arm, yanking him to his feet and away from Legolas, pulling out rope to tie the human's wrists.

With a strength that Aragorn didn't know he possessed, he managed to break the huge orc's strong grip and ran back to his friend. "I will carry him!" he said, defiantly.

The orc made a sound of frustration, but he waited. If the human wanted to carry the elf, fine, as long as he didn't have to.

Aragorn lifted his friend, praying that he wasn't causing more damage.

Legolas was silent and still, his head lying limply against Aragorn's chest. His blood quickly started to stain the human's tunic, but Aragorn didn't realize it as he walked beside his brothers, who each had an arm tightly gripped by an orc.

They walked for hours, never getting the opportunity to tend to Legolas' wounds. Aragorn's only indication that Legolas still lived was the slight rise and fall of his chest. The human was getting extremely upset; his friend obviously had a head injury—possibly a severe one. He'd noticed with alarm the amount of blood that came from the wound, and even though head injuries bled copiously as a rule, the fact that the elf hadn't even stirred in all this time made Aragorn seriously fear for his friend's life…

=========

Ooh, a cliffie! Opps! ;)

'nor' : Elvish for 'run'

'drego' : 'flee'

'daro' : 'stop'