The next morning came silently, just as Aragorn had hoped. From what he could figure, he'd only been unconscious for a few hours, which meant the hunters would be waking soon. He rolled over so that his back was now facing the dying embers of last night's fire, but more importantly, the sharp-edged rocks that made up the fire ring. The boy rubbed the rope binding his hands stiffly together frantically against the rock's edge, feeling the threads snap and come loose.
The young man, a boy really, not much older than himself, before him shifted in his sleep, rubbing his eyes briefly before lying still. His hand was still flopped across his eyes.
Aragorn froze in his frenetic attempts to escape, making sure the boy was really asleep before trying the ropes again. A few more strands frayed and broke, but it was still going too slow for Aragorn's liking. He sighed in frustration, the sound muffled by the wadded up piece of cloth in his mouth that served as a gag.
What was worst of all about the whole situation was that he had no idea what prompted the attack and subsequent imprisonment. It was true, living amongst the Elves of Imladris he had encountered a total number of about zero (rounded of course) humans, but he was pretty sure that this wasn't a normal for any species except Orcs. He supposed humans were better than Orcs, if one was to be kidnapped, but still…Aragorn was so wrapped up in his mental wanderings that he had yet to notice that the other boy was wide awake and watching him surreptitiously from underneath his hand.
Tyn watched the stranger for a few moments, debating whether or not he was, one: a threat, or two: if he should let him go.
The strange boy seemed to sense eyes on him and stilled his movements, his silver eyes darting about looking for the source. His gaze finally settled on Tyn, and his eyes widened more, if that were at all possible.
Realizing his game was up, Tyn removed his arm from over his eyes and sat up, turning to face the boy who shifted onto his back. Whether it was to keep an eye on the other boy or an effort to show submission, Tyn was unsure.
"It's ok, kid…" he said softly so as not to wake the others.
The boy gave him an incredulous look, his expressive eyes clearly stating, "Yeah, maybe from your point of view."
Tyn chuckled. "If you promise not to yell, I'll take the gag off."
The stranger readily nodded, tilting his head up so Tyn could reach around the back of his head to pull the rolled piece of cloth down around the other boy's neck. Once removed, Tyn leaned back on his heels, studying over the small boy.
His dark brown hair was about shoulder length, and the youthful roundness in his face suggested he was very young, perhaps eleven or twelve at the oldest. However, his silver eyes seem to contradict his apparent years. They were almost sad eyes, Tyn thought curiously. What would a boy like him have to be sad about? Terror, worry…even anger was understandable under the circumstances.
"What's your name?" Tyn asked as the boy worked his jaw after being released from the gag.
"Estel," the stranger replied warily, sitting upright but keeping his gaze riveted on Tyn. "Who are you?"
"My name is Tyn," he introduced. He held out his hand for the other boy but suddenly realized with a flash of embarrassment that Estel's hands were still tied behind his back. "Sorry…" he mumbled, glancing down at the ground.
"Let me go," Estel said, his eyes pleading with the teenager.
"I can't…I'm sorry, but I can't. Kendak wouldn't like it," Tyn said, as though what Kendak said mattered to the boy named Estel.
The boy slumped and muttered something in a different language. It hadn't occurred to Tyn until now that there was an accent lacing Estel's voice, but he couldn't place it.
"Where are you from?" Tyn asked, trying to keep Estel talking. If he could figure out what Estel intended by sneaking around the camp last night, Kendak would be more willing to let him go.
"Rivendell."
Tyn laughed, thinking that the boy meant that was where he was coming from, not where he lived. Obviously, it was the wrong thing to say as Estel suddenly drew his legs up and shot them into Tyn's chest, knocking him over backwards with a yelp of pain and surprise.
Immediately, the camp was awake. Having heard their young companions cry of pain and seeing the angry stranger awake and sitting up and glaring hatefully at Tyn, they assumed the worst had happened.
"No, wait!" Tyn protested as Rhoran dealt the boy a forceful blow to the back of the head, knocking the boy's senses for a loop.
Unable to ward off the attack with his arms bound behind him, Estel could do little more than cringe away from the blow. Rhoran either didn't hear Tyn's protest or didn't care as he kicked Estel in the leg for good measure. The second blow, though just as painful as the first, did not even elicit a cry of pain from the stranger, but instead all Estel did was bite down hard on his lip.
"Rhoran! Knock it off!" Corbin shouted, jumping up in the boy's defense. The second largest of the group shoved Rhoran angrily away from the boy, standing now between the enormous hunter and the cowering boy.
"He didn't mean it!" Tyn protested. "I laughed at something he said and I guess it made him angry. He was just defending himself."
"He still attacked you," Rhoran stated.
"Yeah, but I picked the fight," Tyn replied.
"Listen to Tyn, Rhoran…" Corbin demanded. "Leave the poor kid alone, he's already scared half to death."
Both hunters risked a glance down at the boy, who was curled in on himself, his eyes tightly shut as he muttered something unintelligible under his breath.
"Calm?" Corbin asked, relaxing his stance a little.
"Yes," Rhoran replied grudgingly, sparing one last hateful glance at the boy.
As the large hunter moved away to start looking for firewood to revive the flames, Corbin breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to the boy.
"It's okay, kid, he's not gonna bother you anymore," Corbin said gently, kneeling by the child.
"He said his name was Estel," Tyn offered as he edged closer.
"Estel?" Corbin echoed. "Funny name." He reached out to touch Estel's shoulder but the boy immediately flinched away, crying out in the same, musical language as he did the night before.
"Tampa!" he cried, turning his face away from the contact, before whispering softly, "Tua amin, ada!"
"What did he say?" Tyn asked. Corbin shrugged.
"It's Elvish," Dabryn offered. "Flawless."
"How do you know?" Tyn asked curiously, turning his eyes to the older man who shifted closer to Estel, who had turned his own eyes on the man as he approached. Fortunately, the look was of interest instead of fear.
"'Quel amrun," he said to the boy, who's face immediately lit up.
Estel sat bolt upright, turning his entire body to face the man as he started speaking rapidly in what seemed to be his native language.
"Whoa kid! I don't know that much!" Dabryn held up his hand for the boy to stop.
The boy slumped dejectedly. He worked his jaw a little before finally producing words in the Common tongue of Men.
"Let me go. Why do you keep me here?" he asked, though slowly, as if he were thinking very carefully how to say the words he wanted.
"What were you doing in our camp, for one thing," a new voice interrupted.
Estel swiveled his head to glare at the man he recognized as the one that had almost strangled him the night before. He drew his lips back in an animalistic snarl. "I wasn't doing anything wrong. I didn't take anything."
"Then what were you doing here?" Kendak asked.
"I was leaving," Estel replied shortly.
***
Aragorn was growing irritated with these hunters. He was glad that his father, Lord Elrond, hadn't allowed any into Rivendell. They seemed incredibly thick.
"Leaving?" echoed the man who had almost strangled him. He gave a snort of derision. "Why were you in our camp?"
Aragorn thought for a moment, trying to remember the Common his father had been teaching him. He knew it for the most part, but almost no one in Rivendell spoke it on a regular basis, as there was no need. Everyone spoke Sindarin. Besides, he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell these people the real reason he was in their camp.
The younger man, Corbin, Aragorn thought, tried a different tact. "Where do you live, kid?"
"Rivendell," Aragorn answered promptly. Now they were getting somewhere. "I want to go home."
"You mean you were traveling from Rivendell back home?" Tyn, the youngest asked.
"No, I live in Rivendell, with Lord Elrond," Aragorn snapped irritably. "I was adopted."
Evidently, they didn't know what being adopted meant. They all exchanged puzzled looks.
"My parents died when I was little. Elrond took me in," Aragorn explained. It was aggravating having to speak so slowly. He thought he might have had something when the older man had greeted him in Elvish, but that had been apparently all he knew of the language.
A knowing nod was exchanged between the two older men, though Tyn seemed just as much out of the loop as Aragorn.
"Ah," Kendak said somewhat uncomfortably. "Well, um, that explains a lot."
"Are you going to let me go home now?" Aragorn asked hopefully.
Kendak rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I've got a proposition for you, Estel. How about you come with us?"
Aragorn blinked. "My father will be looking for me. I wasn't supposed to be out in the first place."
"Why not?" Corbin asked, in the same cautious tone as Kendak.
"He said it was dangerous." And he was right. Mental note to self: Listen to Ada more often…Aragorn thought wryly.
"I see," Kendak said. He inhaled deeply, and it sounded like a regrettable sigh to Aragorn's ears.
This should be good…Aragorn grumbled to himself.
"Well, I hate to say this kid, but you're coming with us," Kendak stated firmly.
Aragorn's jaw dropped, before stuttering out "No! Wait! I have to go home!" but it took until he saw Tyn and Corbin's confused looks that he had only managed an Elvish translation, but he couldn't help it. He shook his head frantically. "You don't understand!"
"What do you mean, we're just taking him with us?" Tyn asked, leaping to his feet. "That's kidnapping!"
"I've seen this before. The Elves kidnap human children and raise them as their own. That way they grow to hate mankind, easy to manipulate against them."
"That's a lie!" Aragorn shouted, this time managing Common.
"Maybe he's telling the truth," Tyn suggested desperately.
"From his point of view, he is telling the truth. He think those damned Elves are his family, when really they're probably the ones that murdered his human parents. He's just too young to remember it. We'll take him back with us, get 'im a proper family that wants a kid." Kendak paused for a moment. "But don't untie him. He'll make a break for it as soon as he gets a chance."
"I'll kill you the first chance I get!" Aragorn shouted, but made sure this time it was in Elvish.
"Gag him too. He'll let every damn Elf in the woods know we have him. Don't want to bring them down on us for stealing their little pet."
Aragorn twisted his head away from the gag as Corbin moved to pull it up from around his neck. "No!" he shouted, kicking his feet up and catching Corbin in the chest and propelling the man backward. Using his momentum, Aragorn rolled backwards, bringing his tied hands up underneath his feet so that they were now in front of him. He stayed in a crouch, not quite sure where he could run to without bumping into another Man. They seemed to come out of nowhere, even if there were just five.
Wait…Aragorn quickly counted only four men. Where's the big one?
A stick snapped behind him and Aragorn managed to roll out of the way as Rhoran made a grab for him. Instead of tackling him like the big man had intended, he found himself face first in the dirt. His already short temper at being bested by the mere stick of a boy finally snapped and he whipped around.
Aragorn could tell he was in trouble now, but he realized he didn't have time to get out of the way this time as the hulking man barreled down on him. He managed to block the first swipe with his bound hands, but the second caught him upside the head, sending his mind reeling. The third blow was to his stomach and he curled in on himself to protect his ribs.
Vaguely, through the darkness that was threatening to overtake him, Aragorn heard someone shouting angrily, but couldn't make out the words. A cool hand touched his forehead and whispered something that sounded wrong; too garbled to have been something he should've understood. His last thought before allowing the darkness to claim him was I have to get home…
Hmm. Not quite how I was planning on making it, but it sort of came out that way. Again, I love feedback, even criticism. Aragorn will be getting a break next chapter, not to mention some time to get create a little trouble for his kidnappers. J If it seems like I am not putting to much effort into this, please, let me know and I'll try harder. Thanks to those who reviewed before!