Disclaimer- LotR doesn't belong to me.

A/N- There is a little surprise near the end of this chappy:)

Chapter 14- Trying is Only Half the Battle

The prince of Mirkwood finished eating his meager meal before the door to the small, dark room was slammed open.

"Slave, come here!" Legolas's master shouted.

Legolas sighed heavily before getting up and trudging over to his master. "Yes… master?"

The tall man unsheathed a short, newly whetted blade. "I need to test how well this blade cuts flesh." The man sneered.

Legolas fell to his knees, frustrated with all of the pain that he had suffered through already. "No." He stated simply.

"'No.'?" Legolas's master asked angrily. "'No' is not the kind of response that I want to hear!" The man backhanded Legolas across his fair cheek. "I want 'yes, master' and 'whatever you say, master'! But I don't want 'no' for an answer! Do you understand, slave?"

"No, I do not understand." Legolas kept his eyes on the man's.

"What?" The tall man pulled Legolas to his feet forcefully. "What did you just say?"

"'No, I do not understand.'" Legolas said again.

Legolas's master took the blade that he had in his hand and swiped it swiftly across the Elf's throat. A line of red blood soon appeared where the blade was swiped. "Let that be a warning. Next time I will slash your throat so deep that you will die instantly." After giving his warning, the man slashed Legolas's bare chest to test the sword's sharpness. "This is fairly sharp. I will keep it as is." And after that, the man left once more.

The Elf wiped off the blood trickling down his neck. "I wish that cut had been deep enough to kill me… then I would be out of this hellish nightmare!" But then he remembered the serrated knife that he had pulled from his back not too long ago. He walked over to it and picked it up in his slender hand. He placed it on the side of his throat and pressed the blade against his skin. "I will join you soon, Tirnen…"

.oOo.

Naurthúl and Haldir had both eaten their pieces of fruit and they were now relaxing in the tree, enjoying the night's soft cool breeze.

Naurthúl yawned. "Do you want to go to sleep, Haldir?"

The Marchwarden nodded his agreement before slipping down from the tree bough that he was resting on.

"Where are you going?" The elder Elf asked.

"To my bed. Are you not coming?"

"You get a bed?"

"Yes. And you did not get one before?" Haldir asked, a bit shocked.

"No. My other master was very cruel. He would beat me every night… most of the time it was because he just felt like hurting me… and… and…" Naurthúl held back the stinging tears and whispered very quietly, "… and he raped me…" After that, the golden brown-haired Elf fell to his knees and cried. "I-it was h-h-horrid there!"

The Marchwarden came over to the sobbing Elf and knelt down next to him. He placed his hand on Naurthúl's back and rubbed it soothingly. "Hush… it is all over now… it is only a memory…"

Naurthúl took a shaky breath before he stood up. He nodded and let Haldir lead him to the Marchwarden's small room.

Upon arriving in the tiny room, Naurthúl looked at the small bed. "Haldir, how do you sleep on that at night? It looks so small!"

"Well, it is not easy to sleep on it, but I find it better than the ground." Haldir walked over to the bed. "You may sleep here tonight. I will sleep outside. Hopefully Ascarlún will have a better chance of seeing me there."

"Ascarlún?" Naurthúl asked, confused.

"An Elvish nayona. He is going to help me escape."

"Oh…" Naurthúl sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to go with Haldir. "But then I will not be able to accompany you…"

"That is right… an Elvish nayona will only allow one Elf to ride it." Haldir looked down to the wooded floor in thought. "Maybe Ascarlún will allow both you and me to ride him."

Naurthúl smiled. "I hope that he does."

"I hope so, too." Haldir said before leaving out the door to sleep outside.

.oOo.

Thranduil, the Mirkwood army, and Faramir arrived in Sarnik a day after they departed from the dark forest.

"Where is my son?" Thranduil spoke with authority.

"Your s-son, King Thranduil?" Seld, the gatekeeper, asked frightened of the king's powerful stature.

"Yes, my son! Legolas! Where is he?"

"I do n-not know w-w-who y-you are speaking o-of." Seld trembled with fear.

"You are of no use!" Thranduil, in his rage, quickly unsheathed his sword and sliced the man's head off his shoulders.

A young citizen of the poor city came up to the king and timidly tugged on his robes. "Sir?"

Thranduil looked down upon the twelve-year-old and harshly asked, "What do you need?"

"I-I know w-w-where y-your son is…" The little girl said timidly.

"Where is he?" Thranduil asked, with a bit less rage in his voice.

"H-he is a s-slave n-now." The little girl whispered, afraid of what the king's reaction would be.

"SLAVE? Legolas a SLAVE?" Thranduil's rage returned to him as he urged his horse foreword and as he slit some of the citizen's throats when the white horse ran by them all. "You damn humans make me sick! Each and every damn one of you!" He checked his horse and spoke again, "Where is he now?"

"He was sold to an armory shop." The man who had auctioned off Legolas spoke in a clear tone.

"Then you must speak of Than. The only armory shop around here." Thranduil sheathed his golden sword back into its scabbard.

The auctioneer nodded.

Thranduil dismissed his army and Faramir to go and rescue Estel, for he wanted the pleasure of killing the man who had Legolas personally.

.oOo.

"Please, Legolas, do not try and kill yourself." A soft voice called to the prince.

Legolas put the knife down and looked up upon the fair figure that stood before him. "… I-it cannot be…" He fell back in shock. "T-Tirnen!"

The figure smiled and nodded slightly. "Yes, Legolas. Mandos allowed me to return back to Middle-Earth."

"I still cannot believe it!" Legolas sprang to his feet and embraced his once dead friend.

"I am going to help you escape." Tirnen whispered into the older Elf's ear.

A smile spread across Legolas's lips. For the first time since his capture, Legolas was happy. "How?" He asked simply.

"Follow me." Tirnen began to lead Legolas to the door, but the prince fell down in pain.

"Wait, Tirnen. I cannot walk. I am too weak from the beating that I have suffered through."

The young Elf carefully scooped up Legolas and carried him out the door of their dark hellish room.

After many twists and turns of the shop's halls, Legolas was finally able to breathe the clean, fresh air of his freedom. "How did you get here, Tirnen?"

"After I was reborn in Valinor, I took a ship to Middle-Earth. Then I got the fastest Elvish nayona and she bore me here.

"You did all of that very quickly…" Legolas said, amazed.

"The grace of the Valar helped me along." Tirnen said, walking over to the nayona, who stood proudly on the soft grass. "I do not know if Ris will allow both of us to ride her." Tirnen carefully placed Legolas upon the nayona's back. "Can you stay on?"

Legolas nodded weakly. "Yes."

"Are you sure? You do not seem very strong currently…" Tirnen asked, concerned for his friend.

"Yes. I can stay on." Legolas held onto the leather harness.

"Alright." Tirnen said, mounting Ris right behind Legolas.

But before Tirnen could find out if Ris would accept both him and Legolas, the Elves' former owner ran outside.

"Damn it! Why doesn't he just leave us alone?" Tirnen swore under his breath. "Run, Ris!" Tirnen kicked Ris lightly, but Ris didn't move. "Ris, please run!" Tirnen kicked her again, but she didn't budge. So he turned to Legolas and whispered, "Please make it back to Mirkwood alive." And with that, Tirnen dismounted.

The dark-haired Elf was about to send Ris off with Legolas, but his former master came up from behind and gagged him. The man pushed Tirnen to the ground and bound his wrists. Then he turned to Legolas and Ris.

Legolas couldn't just leave his friend to die again. He got one of his feet out of the stirrups, but he wasn't able to dismount fully. The man forcefully grabbed Legolas and also threw him to the ground. He kept his foot on the prince's back to keep him pinned down whilst he got a rope around Ris's neck.

"You Elves are all so foolish!" The man said, binding Legolas's wrists together. "If one of you is captured, then another one will come and try and save the first one." The man sneered evilly. "And this winged horse of yours will look nice hanging from my wall." He laughed at the end of his sentence.

This just is not my day… Tirnen thought, sadly.

The man took his two recaptured Elves and his newly acquired steed inside.

Once they were all inside, the man unbound Tirnen and Legolas's wrists and left them both with Ris in that same room that the Elves had just escaped from.

Tirnen took out his gag and swore harshly about the man.

Legolas took out his gag also, but he kept quiet.

Tirnen stood up and walked over to Ris. "I am sorry that you are now mixed up in this too, Ris…" Tirnen embraced the Elvish nayona's neck lovingly. "When the time comes… I will make sure that your death is painless… unlike my own was…" Ris nuzzled Tirnen's neck in response. Tirnen smiled slightly.

Tbc…

A/N-

Responds to Reviews- Yay! Reviews are nice!

Saerwen- Well… yeah… I really don't know how to respond to that review…

JediGollum- Well, Cield did not adopt Tirnen in this story. And I know that 'talan' was spelled wrong… I was too lazy to go look up the word;P Hehe! Thranduil has an attitude! And the nayonas are being confined:D

Mr. Leader- Ok! I await my death:)

Fk306 animelover- hehe! I'm not going to tell you that;)

XxelfxX- Don't be sorry. I was kidding:D

Kirsten- hehe! I was only kidding! I don't mind:D

Legolas-gurl88- Thanks for the advice:D

Troubles8806- I am not going to respond to that;)

Avalonmage- Cry? Again! … I made you cry?…