Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

Review Responses:

Invisigoth3: Orcs do tend to spice things up don't they?

ashlyns: Take a couple aspirins. You'll be just fine.

manveri mirkiel: I know, I know, I know, I update too quick sometimes. I just can't help myself. Honestly I thought that maybe your pc had died on you, but then again schools almost out so I know what you are doing.

Chapter 4: Well yes they are mature around everybody else, but around each other they can cut loose some. Plus childish sarcasm works really well to try to diffuse a tense situation. And yes the orcs were eating leaches. You asked.

Chapter 5: Sorry no healing, just able to see the future.

And yes my orc is complex. A true villain is always complex, unless they are just an outright psychopath. And you've told me before that you felt sorry for him, way back in Blood. Are you going soft on my orc?

Yeah I thought if Veri looked like Legolas maybe it would make Atavus trust her a little more. Sentimental value.

I see Veri as sort of a leader to the throwbacks. She's strong willed, and they are willing to follow her, so of course that would have put her in the limelight when he chose someone to care for Van.

I'm not saying that Veri is antisocial. It's just that she has known two species. Throwbacks and Orcs, and as you can guess the orcs aren't that great to her or her kind, so she tends to trust the throwbacks but no one else.

Chapter 6: I figured that Aragorn would expect Atavus to say something totally somber and elflike so I had to throw him a curve ball and mention his pets.

During the first two fics Atavus was basically scared. She wasn't as confident. But by this time she has matured some do to her experiences, plus she knows what to expect from Ugluk. So I thought to myself that she would be more confident and in control by now. That's the way I wanted it to come off.

Actually I hadn't thought about the pippin thing. Thanks for reminding me. Mrhaha.

Chapter 7: My Friday the 13th turned out to be pretty bad. I lost my wedding ring. It's somewhere in my house, but where I don't know. I searched high and low. And I never even took the darn thing off. It just disappeared. Explain that.

As I said they can really be themselves around each other. As a matter of fact they count on it.

ZELINIA: Yes Legolas can be sarcastic when he wants to be. We saw some of that while he was around Gimli. Rasputin orc, now that's cool.

Slayer3: And manveri wonders why I update so quickly. With people begging and bribing me with ice cream what does she expect? Hint, hint. (I need my ice cream fix.)

Karone Evertree: Thanks. I know how you feel. I went all winter without getting sick and now I think I've got the flu. The only time I feel half way decent is when I'm doped up. So this chapter may not be completely coherent, and might be a little later than usual. We'll see.

Larien: About the siege, Aragorn had Gimli order the men to completely destroy the fortress. Since they are so far under ground there is a distinct possibility that the whole thing could collapse leaving them trapped or dead. Now does it make more sense? Probably not, since I'm making little sense right now anyway. And yes I actually hate to see Ugluk go, but there really isn't a place for his kind anymore. So I'll just have to find a new adversary for Atavus in my next fic.

Lintered: Yes you are. Sorry this is late. Life is becoming difficult.

Author's Note: I'm sorry I know this chapter is late compared to what I normally do, but things have gone from bad to worse for me in the last few days. First I lost my wedding ring, which still hasn't turned up no matter how hard I search. Then I got sick for a couple of days. Then both my kids got sick. And on top of all that I had four teeth pulled today that were broken during a car wreck I had three years ago. I'm normally not suspicious, but this all started on Friday the 13th so go figure. Let's see if I can manage to write this chapter without anything else going wrong. (Nocks on wood, throws salt over shoulder, and rubs lucky rabbits foot. Hey has anybody seen my four-leaf clover?)

Playtime In the Pit

They had been talking quietly when Atavus made a shushing sound. "He's coming. I would know those steps anywhere." She turned her head to the side curiously, hearing something else. "Manveri is with him." She whispered. She silently prayed that Manveri had been able to find Van before Ugluk had.

He pushed the woman into the room before him. Atavus kept her stare forward and blank but she could see the anger written across his face.

"You stay in that corner. Do not make a sound." He growled at Manveri, and then turned his attention to Atavus. "You seem to know so much about my son, Sister. So where is he?" He shouted at her.

A wicked smile crossed Atavus' lips at his words. "Now how should I know that Brother? I have been manacled to this wall all day. You know that. It isn't like I could spirit him away myself." She chided in a sweet voice.

Even through her blank stare she could see his lips start to tremble at the suppressed anger he held. She tried not to smile even broader.

"She was guarded closely. She had no chance to hide him. Yet he is no where to be found." He said stepping closer to her. The smile was wiped from her face. Manveri had not hid him, but he was gone. Where could he have gone? She scanned her memories from her own childhood in the fortress. There were only so many places a small child could hide.

He watched the play of emotions on her face. He could see her bite her bottom lip in concentration. He was good at reading prisoners. And he too remembered times when she had hid from her orc captors as a child. They had never found her, until she left her hiding place for food or water. If anyone would know where he could be it would be her. "Tell me." He hissed moving in close enough that she could feel his breath on her face.

"I'm afraid you're asking the wrong person. Why don't you go form a search party?" She suggested.

"Not the answer I wanted to hear." He said backhanding her. Her head snapped to the side from the force of the hit. She licked her lip and could taste blood where it was split. She stared blankly forward again.

"Sorry. It's the only one you're going to get." She hissed back at him.

He reached up to hit her again, but thought better of it turning around and staring at the two figures tied to the stone tables. "I guess other forms of persuasion are necessary."

Atavus could see where he was heading and felt a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Oh does this mean we are through playing? I always enjoyed our little games." She taunted hoping to turn his attention back to her.

He chuckled then. "It won't work this time Sister. I'm wise to your tricks. It's your friend's turn to play. You just sit back and listen. You'll enjoy this." He made his way to the tables and stood between them looking from man to elf. "I wonder which one to start with first? You were really partial to the elf last time." He said pulling his dagger and running it along the exposed skin of Legolas' jaw line, drawing a razor thin cut there, that immediately ran bright blood.

"Why don't you untie me and we'll see how good you really are with that knife." Aragorn suggested trying to draw the orcs attention away from his friend. "Oh but then again we did that once, and you ended up on the loosing end didn't you?" His taunt continued.

The orc turned smoldering eyes upon the human. He remembered his near defeat at the hands of the human. That would not happen again. "Then again Sister I have heard that you've been living with the humans for many years now. Maybe this one holds a dearer place in your heart. After all it was he that rescued you from Dol Guldur." He smiled down at the human and then drove his blade into his upper arm. Out of surprise and pain he made a small distressed sound in the back of his throat.

Atavus wanted to scream out, but knew she couldn't give her secret away just yet. But she heard the sound. "Leave them out of this Ugluk. This is between you and me."

"Oh but they brought themselves into this when they decided to enter my home, and sneak around trying to take my rightful possession, you." The orc said in a sweet tone. "So which do you want to see me torture? It's so hard to choose. Come to think of it the human traded you to me for his friend here back in the caves. Maybe the affection is not as great as I guessed." She could see the pained look those words caused in Aragorn who had never quite forgiven himself for leaving her to find help for Legolas.

"You know damn well that I traded myself to you for the elf. The human wasn't involved in that decision. You certainly do enjoy twisting events to match your already twisted mind don't you?" Her anger was getting the best of her. She could feel her blood boiling. She could hear it pulsing in her ears. If she weren't careful she would soon make a mistake.

"You see things your way. I'll see them mine. Right now I see a great deal of pain for your two friends." He said turning to Legolas and slicing the knife across his stomach. She could see him do it but Legolas made no sound so she knew she must not react. "You know there was something that I learned very young about torture methods. Sometimes it's not enough just to settle for the simple tortures." He smiled and then sliced his knife along the top of Legolas' left thigh. Again she held her tongue and attempted to keep the blank stare upon her face. "You see some beings like your elf friend here have a high threshold for pain." Smiling again he ran the knife along the other thigh. She could see the blood soaking his pants and tunic, but still remained as still as a statue. She silently wished inside her head that Legolas would make some sound so she could break her own silence. "So you have to resort to other methods. Not as common." He placed one last knife stroke across the elf's chest, and then replaced his knife in its scabbard.

"What are you talking about Ugluk? I'm tired of this game." She broke her silence. Legolas had never told them what had made him scream in the Misty Mountain caves, but she began to realize that maybe she would find out soon enough.

"This." He said holding out a leather pouch. She could see Legolas staring above himself at the ceiling. She knew he had to know what was in the pouch, but he would not make a sound or a move. "This is simple salt, used for seasoning food. But when put to different uses can be quite effective in certain settings." The orc poured some of the salt into his hand and clamped it down on the wound across Legolas' stomach. She could see the pained expression on her friends face, and knew he was in excruciating pain.

"You filthy orc. Leave him be." Aragorn yelled struggling against the straps that held him tight. He too could see the expression on Legolas' face.

Legolas knew Atavus could see the pain he was in so it didn't really matter if he screamed or not, but he had been broken once by the foul beast, and he wasn't about to let it happen again. He refused to make a sound to give the beast the satisfaction he wanted. He was stronger and had faced greater evils than the orc before. He would not cave in again.

"Not in the mood to make noises this time elf?" He asked placing salt on the chest wound and then using the palm of his hand to grind it into the open skin. He could feel the human behind him struggling against the straps trying in vane to free himself.

Manveri stood in the corner in utter shock at the sight before her. She could try to help the elf, but where would that get her? She'd be either dead or manacled to the wall next to Atavus. And then who would search for Van? She had to put Van first. The boy was as a son to her, and he needed her.

Atavus watched in horror as the orc repeated the treatment to Legolas' left thigh. She could see the raw pain present in his eyes. She didn't realize that tears had started to slide down her cheeks. She could take it no more, and she could feel her grip on sensibility slip. "Stop brother. Please!" She begged. He looked to her then and saw the pleading look in her eyes that had replaced the blank stare. He could see her eyes dart back and forth from him to the elf and then back again.

He dropped the bag of salt and then made his way to where she stood. She quickly lowered her head realizing what she had given away. But he would not allow that. He grabbed the hair on the back of her head and pulled back, bringing her face up to where he could see her eyes. "He made no noise. You can see." His eyes stared into hers. His face was but mere inches from hers.

She knew she would not be able to deceive him any longer. "So I can. Imagine that." She said with fake wonderment.

"How long have you been fooling me?" He demanded.

"Maybe a few minutes, maybe all along. You'll never know." She said sweetly.

"One of these days I'm going to kill you Sister." He growled.

"I know you will. But not before I kill you." She said sweetly again.

She was surprised then as he let go of her and left the pit without another word. She looked to the door where he had left but a few moments before. Would he never cease to surprise her?

Author's Note: Yes I made it. I had to do it. I had to get some elf torture in. It's been way too long.