There and Back Again

Hola mi amigos! LoL, thank you so much for all the reviews! Yes, I know, blackmailing is bad, but I couldn't resist. Anyway, I'm posting this early because....I'm leaving tomorrow! Yes, that's right, our football team made it to the SD state finals for the first time EVER! Go Cavaleirs!!! So I'm traveling from lonely west river to Vermillion, SD to see the game! Pray for STM, peoples! The creepy thing about this though is that it's happening on my birthday, ROFL. I'm turning 15 tomorrow, yay for me! November 13th rocks!

ANYWAY, enough of my hyperness. Here's the longest chapter thus far, and I think the most violent one I've written so far. Hope you like it!

Chapter Three: Bleeding Ears

He said, she said...

No she don't

Be back before morning

And you know she won't

Well I remember that summer

Like yesterday

And I remember his mother

As he was dragged away

I still hear his screaming, "Where do I hide?"

And all he asks and I say, "Hurry inside."

Nickleback

Orcs.

Oh, Valar, why orcs? Why now? How long ago had he been captured; days, weeks? It seemed to be only yesterday he had been on his way back home, hoping to make it before the joyous occasion of Yen and witness what occurred this year. Now, however, he was lying on the floor of a cave, bound by his hands and feet, hoping for nothing more than to make it out of this alive. Why did it have to be him? Had he done something horribly wrong to deserve punishment like this?

The tale of Celebrian came flashing back to his mind's eye, the way that Elladan had told it with such sadness in his heart, and the way Elrohir couldn't keep the tears from rolling down his cheeks at the mere mention of his mother's name. They told him she had been fortunate, that she had been given the gift of a second chance by Illuvatar. She had come back to her husband, Elrond, many centuries ago, grievously wounded. Though the skill of Elrond was beyond measure, he had not been able to heal her mind. Celebrian could not bear the memories of the horrendous tortures she had endured during her captivity, and had not spoken a word of them to neither her sons nor her husband. Within the year, she had departed over the sea, never again to lay eyes on her family until the age of the elves was over.

Again, Estel shivered in fear on the floor of the cave. Unfortunately for him, it had not gone unnoticed by his guards this time.

"Oi, look! The worm's awake," grunted someone crouched down next to his feet. Estel heard the hurried shuffling of feet surround him like a cage, and he curled in upon himself even more. Laughter. He heard laughter above him, and he chanced a quick glance above at the offending noise. It was a mistake.

As he opened his eyes, Estel was met with the site of not three, as he had previously gathered from the muffled sounds around him, but five black, slimy creatures, all gazing down upon him with their abnormally large, red eyes. Each one, it seemed, carried a crudely made bow at it's back and a scimitar made of rusty metal belted to their waists. Every one of their foul race took a hesitant step back as Estel opened his bleary eyes, except for one orc standing directly over him.

It was the most terrifying site Estel had ever seen in his life. The other orcs were rather short, standing at least a foot shorter that he himself. But this one, this one was over a foot taller than him. His large, round eyes were an even deeper shade of red than the others. He was bulky, heavily muscled on every part of his body, and he wore little armor to protect it. Instead of a scimitar, he carried a long, iron mace, and a crossbow was strapped on his back. He bore strange markings on his face, stripes of a red substance adorning his cheeks, clearly marking him as the leader of the group. Mangled stitches wound their way up the entire length of his arm. It was not uncommon knowledge that orcs did not die naturally of old age. This one, Estel was sure, must have lived a very hard, long life.

And he wasn't looking forward to facing this one.

"What have we here?" the tall one growled with obvious amusement, "Has the pretty elf lost his way?" The surrounding black creatures laughed mirthlessly at the comment, then quieted suddenly, waiting for their master to speak.

The orc glared at Estel, who cringed noticeably in fear, drawing more laughter from his captors. He closed his eyes, willing it all silently to go away. When he opened his eyes, he would be resting in his soft, warm bed in the haven of Imladris. His brothers would be playfully bickering by the foot of his bed, and his Ada would come in moments later, urging him to take a sleeping drug disguised as tea to soothe his raging fever.

Alas, it was not to be so.

As he opened his eyes, Estel was not welcomed by the sight of his brothers. Rather, the orc leader had crouched down over him, his head inches from Estel's face, exhaling his stinking breath over Estel's nose. The unnatural stench caused Estel to plunge into a coughing fit. He doubled over himself, barely able to breath as his body expelled what it saw as a disease. The orc leader was not pleased at this, however, and grabbed Estel roughly by his long, elf-like hair and dragged him unceremoniously to his feet. Estel swayed, not able to stand properly with his feet bound and the poison from the darts still infecting his blood. Grumbling, two orcs grabbed him maliciously by the arms just as he was about to fall, sensing that their master had better use of their pet standing. Pleased, the leader continued.

"You would do well, elf, to look at me when spoken to," he snarled. Again, Estel cringed, involuntarily closing his eyes to the terrifying sight, earning him a breathtaking punch in the stomach. He doubled over coughing yet again. I trickle of blood escaped from the corner of his mouth, bringing a smirk onto the face of the orc leader. He turned around, and began barking orders to the rest of the party.

"Nuteg! We leave at once. Have the men gag the elf and be ready immediately," he ordered, turning around to douse the fire and gather up the remainder of their supplies. The orc in question, consumed with anger and frustration, burst unwisely from his protective shell of obedience.

"We ain't carrying him one step further! We've had nothing but maggoty bread and spoilt mutton for a full week! Why should we have to?"

The orc leader spun around on his heal and had his clawed hands to the offending creature's throat in an instant. Nuteg quieted, standing like a petrified log with his huge eyes staring in horror at what he had just said.

"Did I hear a contradiction, slug?" he questioned in a quiet but commanding tone. Nuteg shook his head, almost comically, and motioned toward his peers to help him lift Estel. Estel braced himself, prepared to fight if he had to, hoping against hope that somehow he might be able to free himself long enough to loose himself in the maze of caverns. He was startled out of his thoughts, however, as the orc leader spoke again.

"Nuteg, for once it seems, is right. The petty elf can carry himself the remainder of the journey. Cut the ropes from his legs and let's get going," he shouted. Obediently, an orc bent over his legs, using a long, jagged knife to cut his bonds. Estel waited patiently until they had come fully off, then kicked the orc savagely in the head and stumbled to his feet...

...only to be slammed back down again.

Estel's head collided with the sharp rocks of the cavern floor, and he lay there dazed for a moment. When he was finally able to focus his eyes once more, he came face to face with the rotting fur of a makeshift orc boot, firmly planted on his chest to keep him from trying to escape again. His breath having been knocked out of him upon impact, he stayed there unmoving as yet another orc wound a long rope around his hands and handed the other end to the orc leader. Estel's brief respite came to an end as the leader jerked the rope and gabbed Estel's hair simultaneously, bringing him shakily once more to his feet.

As he was jerked maliciously toward the mouth of the cave, Estel muttered under his breath, almost silently.

"My father will find me."

The orc leader laughed at this, much to the surprise of his bruised captive. He spoke loudly so that he could be heard without having to turn around and face the beaten human.

"My name is Zughtuk, elf, last of the begotten orcs. Remember to tell your father that if you ever see him again."

o-o-o

The bitter wind howled around Estel as he trudged through the knee-deep snow of the Misty Mountains. Stripped of his elven cloak, he was even colder than he normally would be under such circumstances. He was becoming weak from blood loss, as the rope on his wrists was constantly jerking, digging mercilessly into his vulnerable skin. He had been stripped down to the waist, nothing covering the upper half of his body save for his waist-length hair that twirled around him in the wind. Because the orcs could not stand to be out during the daylight hours, it was nearly midnight by the time they had left the cave where Estel had first fully awoken. Now, it was almost dawn, and though Estel shared the elves' hatred of caves, he would welcome any relief from the howling wind.

Estel stumbled over an unseen rock, earning yet another rough tug from Zughtuk, who held the other end of Estel's rope. Though Estel had no previous experience with orcs of any kind, he could tell that the orc captain was not using his full strength to harm Estel. These orcs were very mysterious creatures, he thought. Not only had they seemed reluctant to harm him past the seemingly 'necessary' punishments for his uncooperativeness, but also they had called him 'elf' not once, but many separate times. It was beyond Estel to know how they had just assumed him to be of elven origins without even checking to be sure of his race. Perhaps it had been his hair braided in the elven way, or his father's cloak, or the inscriptions on his hunting knife that had led to this assumption. He had no inkling as to whether this was a good or bad thing, but resigned himself to let the orcs discover it on their own.

Estel was literally jerked from his thoughts when he felt a tug that sent him sprawling on the ground. His captors didn't seem to notice, however, and they continued to drag him through the biting snow toward an unknown destination. It seemed to take hours, but was most likely only minutes, for him to be pulled into the mouth of yet another cavern. Though he was glad for respite from the biting cold, he was far from sighing in relief. He watched longingly as the orcs made a fire and sat around it, tearing at pieces of rotten meet with their gnarled teeth and washing it down with some unknown liquid. Estel felt the emptiness in his stomach and the parched, longing feeling in his throat and groaned in hunger.

Zughtuk looked back at his captive at the sound of the groan. Orcs were not one to feel pity, and Zughtuk was happy to count himself among that number. But even he could see that the being was dying. Odds were that he hadn't had anything to eat for days before his capture. A combination of hunger, blood loss, and hypothermia would soon take hold over the prisoner and he would be lost to them. Personally, the orc captain couldn't care less if the boy died right there in front of them. It would probably be fortunate for them if he did, for he would provide much sweeter meat then that of which they were accustomed to. His employer, however, would be far from pleased if they came back with yet another dead elf. They would not survive another disappointment.

Estel watched in surprise as Zughtuk walked over to his prone form. Not in the least bit gently, he pulled Estel over next to the fire. Estel hissed in pain as his frozen body began to thaw, but relaxed a few moments later, to exhausted to wonder what the orc was up to. He closed his eyes, hoping to have just enough time to get at least a little rest.

A few seconds later Estel opened his eyes to discover that the orc captain was holding a putrid smelling piece of flesh in his hands that looked suspiciously like the intestine of some animal, offering it to the ravenous human. Though he was starving, even Estel wouldn't sink as low as to eat raw intestine offered to him by an orc. He wrinkled his nose and turned his head away in decline. Unfortunately, he had no choice. Zughtuk grabbed Estel by the nose and stuffed the raw piece of flesh into his mouth. Estel's screamed mentally in disgust, and tried to spit the offending meat out. The orc, foreseeing this maneuver, clamped his hand over Estel's mouth, forcing him to swallow. Estel vomited inside his mouth, but had no choice. He ate it.

While Estel was still catching his breath from the forced feeding, Zughtuk forced yet another foreign substance into his mouth; this time, a flask, which immediately poured a hot, bitter liquid into his mouth. Estel gagged, but had already involuntarily swallowed the majority of the drink. He rolled over on his side, clutching his stomach in agony as the revolting substance burned in his chest. Satisfied, Zughtuk stood up and motioned to his companions.

"Codlun, check the elf. Make sure his injuries won't kill him. We can't afford another dead one," he ordered. Seemingly understanding the cryptic message, Codlun bent over the still form of Estel, much to Estel's disgust, and began examining his wounds. He found nothing of great importance, until he pulled back Estel's raven-black hair to look for any head injuries.

"Strange elf we gots here, boss," he informed Zughtuk in a squeaky, strained voice. Zughtuk turned around and raised an eyebrow in question. Codlun, understanding his leader's expression, went on.

"'E don' got them pointy ears, see? Smooth the 'ole way 'round," he informed. Hearing this, Zughtuk jumped up and strode over to the frightened form of Estel. None too gently, he pulled back the previously braided hair to reveal not the pointed ears that marked the race of the eldar, but the round, small ears of an edain. He swore.

"Damn you, you filthy human," he cursed, spitting in Estel's face and kicking him hard in the ribs. Estel, who had been in a dazed, half conscious state was brought back to reality at the exploding pain in his ribs. He rolled over onto his stomach, curling in upon himself and willing the torture to stop. Zughtuk, not noticing Estel's actions, continued chastising his underlings.

"You filth! It's a human, not an elf! What can we do with a human? We need an elf!" he shouted.

"Can we eats him, then?" growled a stout, particularly ugly orc. The orc captain glared angrily at the creature in question, and he fell silent. Another orc – was it Nuteg?- spoke reasonably calm for what appeared to be a crisis for the black party.

"We can't come back with nothing again, 'e won't allow it. We'll be fed to the wargs, it's a sure thing. We can't go back with some scum that looks like a human." he argued. Estel turned slowly back over onto his side and glanced up warily at his bickering captors. Zughtuk looked thoughtfully down at Estel, who felt a wave of terror wash through him. He could almost read what was going on in the orcs head at the moment. Zughtuk fingered the hunting knife on his belt, then jerked it out of its sheath. He smiled sadistically at Estel, and muttered so that the rest could hear him.

L"I can fix that."

He positioned the knife in his hand so that he could grasp it better with one hand. With the other, he motioned for two orcs to hold the human down on his back. Slowly, as if savoring every moment of it, he turned Estel's head to the side and pulled back the hair that covered his ears. Estel, now knowing without a doubt what was about to occur, struggled madly against his captors, but to no avail. Zughtuk set his knife down next to where Estel's ear met his head. He waited a moment, savoring the horror in the eyes of his victim. He jerked his hand.

Estel screamed.

Well, I hope you liked that chapter! It took me two weeks to write it gives everyone around the evil eye.

Oh, and thanks again to my reviewers!!!

jacquelinestel: LoL. I know, I'm evil....MUAHAHAHAHA! I promise I won't blackmail you guys anymore. ;-) I'm glad you like my fic! Keep reading...

Rangergirl: Well, the Bleeding Ears chapter wasn't exactly my most glamorous chapter, but orcs aren't very nice people. LoL, thanks for reviewing!

Scarlett Red Rose: Ok, I promise you I won't blackmail anyone else either. Oh, and too true about the life thing. High school doesn't help much either :-P. Come back soon!

grumpy: Well, Estel might make it to Yen, but he won't be in a position to enjoy it (wink wink). I hope this chapter answers your question about the orcs..... LoL thanks for reviewing!

Stay tuned for the next chapter: To Dungeons Deep.

See the little "Submit Review" box in the left corner? It's a gooooood thing.

Chao chickos.

CzechChicka