Part II: To Rivendell
The drug had kept the child asleep through the night and he was still sleeping when dawn came. Legolas rose and scouted the area while Aragorn prepared breakfast. By the time Legolas returned the delicious smell of barbecued venison was filling the air and all was still quiet.
"No more surprises out there?" Aragorn asked without looking around as Legolas silently approached.
"None that I could see, but they may have been driven off by your cooking skills," said Legolas with a grin that he hid by pretending to busy himself with the cracking of the nuts he gathered while he had been scouting.
"Why your father does not employ you as court jester I will never understand, my lord Elf. Surely your skills are wasted out here," replied Aragorn with a mock-bemused look. Legolas' response was cut short by an earsplitting shriek from the flet.
"Ah, prince charming awakes," murmured Legolas, "better get him down from there before he hurts himself."
The Orcling was clearly terrified by the realization that he found himself halfway up a tree. He curled himself into a ball in the middle of the makeshift platform, and screamed and screamed. Aragorn reached out to him, intending to take the boy into his arms so that he could soothe his fears. The moment he touched the Orc, he exploded into violence, launching himself at Aragorn with nails and teeth. His actions so surprised Aragorn that he lost his balance and tumbled from the branch on which he had perched. Only quick reflexes and long familiarity with trees saved him from a potentially fatal fall, but did not spare him from any number of scratches and bruises. A soft curse escaped his lips and turned out to be only the first in a long succession of imprecations uttered under his breath that morning.
As Aragorn recovered himself he heard the little Orc's shrill laughter from the flet.
"Well at least your clumsiness amuses him. It's a definite improvement from the screaming," said Legolas in his most helpful tone of voice. The leaves obscured the glare Aragorn gave him. He climbed back to the flet, but as soon as he reached its side the child withdrew and began shrieking again. Forewarned that the pathetic little bundle rocking itself on the opposite edge of the platform would not come tamely, Aragorn took off his overcoat to use it for trapping the Orc. He soon found that this was easier said than done, but after about twenty minutes during which the child somehow repeatedly managed to free himself and slip from Aragorn's grasp, he finally captured him. Having done so he still had to climb down the tree with a screaming, struggling bundle that threatened to dislodge his grip on the branches time and again.
"Legolas, a little help here!" Aragorn's shouted in irritation.
"No, no, Mellon-nin, you are doing so well. Almost there. Just grab that branch to your left and swing down." The laughter in the Elf's voice did little to improve Aragorn's temper, but his suggestion at least was helpful and shortly thereafter he landed on the ground, only to find that the Orc had managed to shake his head free and had sunk his teeth into Aragorn's arm. He would have been nursing a serious bite wound if not for the leather overcoat Aragorn was wearing.
The little Orc looks at the sturdy leather in puzzlement and then reached out to touch it gingerly. For some reason the feel of the leather amused him and he smiled unexpectedly. Aragorn stared in astonishment at the transformation in the creature's face, and looked at Legolas, who was contemplating the pair open-mouthed.
"Well Little One, you must be starving." Aragorn quietly murmured and sat down near the fire. Legolas handed him a slice of barbecued venison. Immediately the child began to squirm. "Settle down, Little One, settle down," he tried to quiet him, "have some meat, here." He held a piece of the meat close to the child's mouth, but he erupted in fury, screaming while he clawed at Aragorn's face. To save his eyes he had to let go of the Orc, who lost no time to scamper away into the trees.
"Oh, for Elbereth's sake!" Aragorn swore.
Legolas put his head on one side and asked, "Aren't you going to follow him?"
"No. Well, not right now. Right now I am going to have breakfast, and then I might consider following him. Or I might decide to just leave him to the other creatures in the forest."
Legolas looks skeptically at his friend "A child? Since when would you consider leaving a baby-anything to its own fate? I think I remember Elladan telling me about the skunks, weasels, even a little bear you tried to raise."
Aragorn grunted in defeat. "Yes, I know. But I'm still having breakfast first."
As it turned out, he did not have to go after the little Orc, since the creature emerged hesitantly from the forest when they were almost finished eating. He hovered on the verge of the trees for a while before making a dash for the carcass of the dear. His sharp little claws tore strips of raw meat from the bones that he stuffed hungrily into his mouth.
"Aragorn! He's ruining the meat!" Legolas shouted as he jumped up to stop the havoc the Orcling was wreaking. With a snarl he ripped off a large chunk and then scampered away into the trees. "I don't mind you feeding stray animals, Aragorn, but I do draw the line when they despoil our food," the irate Elf grumbled as he cut away the shredded pieces.
Aragorn turned away from where he had been staring into the forest, and said in a placating voice "He did not have the benefit of learning table manners yet, Legolas."
"And you are going to teach those to him?" Legolas asked with raised eyebrows.
"Someone will have to. If he comes back that is. Cut off another chunk when you're done there Legolas, and let's put it on the stone over there. I have an idea."
"Bait?"
"Yes and no. I don't think we will be very successful if we try to force the child to come along with us, but we might be able to lure him into following us with food."
"Aragorn, I know the discovery of an Orc child may be a significant event, but do we really want to take that thing along with us anywhere?"
"Afraid you're reputation might be tarnished if you're seen with Orcs?" Aragorn grinned at him.
"We're south of Lothlorien, Aragorn. We have a long way to travel before either of us reaches his home. The road will be filled with enough dangers not to include irate Elves, and believe me, mellon-nin, few Elves will take kindly to the presence of an Orc, infant or no." Legolas' voice was very serious when he looked his friend in the eyes.
"I know, Legolas, but you said it yourself. I can't just abandon it. What if all it needs is a good home? What if something of the Elf survived the corruption? Could he not be redeemed? Can we afford to let an opportunity like this pass without exploring that possibility? If we are successful, can he not be the link to other Orcs?" Aragorn's voice was equally serious, even pleading. They stared at each other for a long time before Legolas relented and walked towards the stone indicated earlier by Aragorn where he placed the meat down.
"All right," he said as he returned, "but we will have to be even more alert than ever. And he is NOT coming into Mirkwood. We can take him to Rivendell, and you can explain yourself to Lord Elrond, but I am not going face my father's wrath if he sees me with that thing."
"Thank you, my friend," Aragorn said as he clasped Legolas arm. Legolas simply nodded and then walked off to start breaking camp. Aragorn joined him. The little Orc did not appear again, but as they left the clearing Aragorn could see him ducking down behind a bush, and when he looked back again a few moments later, he could see the child through the trees, hungrily consuming the meat left for him.
For the next few weeks they traveled north towards the pass which would lead them across the mountains to Rivendell. The little Orc remained at a distance initially, but continued to follow them. After a while he no longer ran away when they approached and even accepted his food from Aragorn's hand before retreating a few paces. However, he continued to refuse any cooked food and once, when they put down some berries for him, pelted them with the fruit. It was clear that he would have nothing but raw meat. At night he slept beneath whichever tree Legolas and Aragorn had decided to call home. A few times they narrowly avoided contact with other Elves, and it was with both relief and trepidation that they finally crossed into Rivendell territory.
"I can't wait to hear you explain this to your father," Legolas said grinning at his friend.
"You understood, Legolas. I have faith that my father will too."
"You have faith in a lot of things, mellon-nin. You even have faith that you may civilize your latest pet. Perhaps you should call him that: Bronwe. Besides, you can't take me as a measure of Lord Elrond's reaction. I lost my good senses the day I met you." He gave a heartfelt sigh, and walked on, shaking his head.
"I'll remember that for future conversations," laughed Aragorn.
They continued until nightfall, but as they were still some distance from home, they decided to set up camp rather than continue in the dark.
As they ate their breakfast the next morning, Legolas observed, "Aragorn, I think we should secure the little monster before we continue. It might not be such a good thing if the Elves see us approach with an Orc following."
"Secure?" Aragorn questioned.
"Bind. Gag. Whatever will keep him under control. A screeching Orc will be little better than a free ranging one."
Much as Aragorn disliked the idea he had to agree that Legolas had a point. Instead of attempting to run down the child and forcibly drag him to Imladris, he reached for his pack and took out a vial and a few bags of herbs. "Let's rather drug him," he responded.
The taste of the drug in his meat clearly did not disturb the young one, who devoured the food with his normal ravenous appetite. Not too long thereafter Aragorn was able to pick up the limp little body and disguise him somewhat with his bedroll. They both spent the last few miles in quiet contemplation of what the future may hold.