TO SPEAK WITH ONE'S HANDS
Sign language/animal sounds
"Legolas?" Aragorn called when he, Boromir, Gimli and Gandalf returned to the campsite.
"Frodo...? Sam…? Merry...? Pippin…?"
"Boromir go look by the lake, they were going swimming." Aragorn ordered.
The man walked off in the direction of the lake which was 50 or so metres away from the camp.
Aragorn cupped his hands around his mouth and called out to Legolas in a series of high pitched animal sounds, similar to what he and Legolas had used earlier in the day.
He waited a moment then repeated the sounds.
After 5 minutes of this he gave up and started to help the others to search the ground for any signs of their missing friends.
"Aragorn," Boromir called from the lake.
He ran over to the rest of the group to see what they had found.
Boromir was holding, Legolas's empty quiver, the ground was littered with broken arrows and Legolas's cloths.
"There are tracks leading off that way," Boromir said pointing east, "Looks like orcs and men."
"They must have been taken while they were swimming." Gandalf said.
"But how could we have missed them, we found no signs of anyone in the surrounding area."
"They must know the area and avoided us."
"Surly Sauron's forces wouldn't come this close to Rivendell." Boromir asked.
Aragorn sighed, "They have been getting closer every year, the elves are leaving these shores so the magic of Rivendell is slowly fading and so those that remain can't keep them as far back as they use to."
"Elrond has long suspected a settlement of men and orcs have lived near here but they could never find them. There is a system of caves near here; if anyone was trying to hide they could do so there," Gandalf suggested.
"Pack camp, we can head towards these caves and see if we can find Legolas and the Hobbits." Aragorn said.
They quickly moved back to the camp after gathering the Hobbit and Legolas's clothing.
When they were ready they moved quickly to the east, in the direction that the footprints went.
"Gandalf, I fear Legolas's reaction to being captured. What if these are the first people who caught him. He can't cope with that again, he could fade."
"Well let us hope for his sake that it isn't, Aragorn, We need him on this quest, no matter how much Boromir and Gimli think otherwise."
Legolas and the hobbits were forced on for another 2 hours after the man had revealed his reasons for capturing them. It was only when they came to a hidden cave at the base of a mountain that they slowed. They were taken inside then lead deep into the mountain past groups of Men, Orcs and Uruk-Hai alike all talking, eating and laughing together in black speech as if they were of the same race.
Legolas cringed as the language met his ears, he had heard it many times before, most recently when at the council of Elrond, by it had always upset him and it reminded him of the first time he had been in the hands of these people.
They were taken to a large throne room, there was an old man sitting on a stone throne at the front of the room. The man ignored them, but instead got up and walked over to their captor, greeting him, in Black speech. The hobbits were easily pushed to their knees while Legolas had to be kicked in the back of the knees for the men to get him to the floor in front of the throne.
"What have we here," the old man asked, walking over to the 5 kneeling figures, "Have you returned what is truly mine, Rondir?"
"I managed to catch the slave and a couple of new slaves as…compensation for all the trouble he has caused us," Rondir told the man.
"Well done, my son. Your Grandfather will be pleased to know that he will be able to punish the slave for his disobedience." He said, patting Rondir on the shoulder.
Legolas knew this man as, Sandir, the man had only been a child when he escaped but he could remember the distinct Birthmark the man had on the right side of his face, it was a dark purple colour which ran from his neck and disappeared into his long brown hair.
Sandir walked over to Legolas and grabbed the elf by his hair pulling the elf up towards him.
"You remember me don't you, slave?"
The elf glared at him.
"What? Couldn't the great Lord of Rivendell work out how to fix your voice? It was only a simple potion."
Legolas spat in the man's face. He was rewarded by a fist connecting with the soft flesh of his stomach.
"I see that your years away from here have destroyed all my ancestors work in taming you."
Legolas snapped back in his animal language. "I was never tame."
The man slapped him to silence him.
"Take him down to the dungeons and teach him a lesson," Sandir ordered, "And make his friends watch."
Some names
(A/N I know this is random but names in middle earth seem to rhyme within families so that is what I did.)
Sandor - Legolas's last master
Sandir – Son of Legolas's last master
Rondir – Grandson of Legolas's last master, caught Legolas and the Hobbits.