AN: Instead of writing a separate sequel, I decided to add new chapters to the original one-shot. So, if you are interested in the adventures of a gruff Uruk-hai and his protege, I invite you to follow them across the plains of Middle-Earth.
Lo and behold! A teeny chapter-like something as a warm-up…
Nindelyth woke alone, in the cocoon of her still slightly damp clothes.
It was morning, golden rays of sunshine filtered by the green canopy of the forest illuminated the cave. She must have slept like the dead to not wake when the Uruk left her side and … tucked her in?
To preserve her modesty – what modesty after a night spent in a naked embrace? – she hastily donned her shift and dress. She looked around.
The Uruk was sitting at the mouth of the cave, his back to her. He was already dressed – if you can call a crude, filthy leather loincloth that. He was yanking his boots on with an impatient snarl.
The Uruk's waist length mane was still tied together, her green ribbon very out of place on such a beast. His hair didn't cover the whole expanse of his broad back. He was littered with scars from neck to waist. The marks of countless floggings, drawn by crisscrossing lines of puckered and slightly lighter skin.
Nindelyth didn't know why, but those scars drove home how precarious and dangerous her situation was.
With a churning stomach Nindelyth approached the Uruk. She needed answers.
-/-
Uglúk stood at the mouth of the cave and pitched his blunt nose in the air. With his repeatedly broken nose he could still hardly smell the faint scents of the forest. Fuck.
Uglúk wasn't a morning person even on the best of days, and now… he hated the world with a vengeance. Hunger clawed at his innards; his neck cracked at every move and a persistent headache was pounding behind his temples.
Of course, the girl chose this moment to have questions.
"Do you have… a name?" she asked in a thin voice, not two steps behind him.
"Course I have!" Uglúk snorted derisively not even turning to her. He wanted to spit his name at her to shut her up, but suddenly it was hard to… divulge that simple piece of information. It felt strangely intimate to let her know it, as if by knowing she would gain some sort of power over him. He shook his head to get rid of the strange thought and mumbled. "Uglúk."
"I am Nindelyth."
The Uruk just grunted. He already knew.
"U… Uglúk, why are we here?"
Now that was a tricky question. A question which required some thinking. Uglúk huffed through his nose, increasingly irritated by her nagging. But he owed her an answer – as much as he owed himself.
For reasons quite unbeknownst to him, Uglúk could not part ways with her. After he had killed that fucking bastard Oswin, she probably would have been safe in Helm's Deep (at least from her own people). But he didn't even think of leaving her behind. And he could not join the other Isengarders with her in toe. Uglúk knew she had suffered at the hands of Oswin, but that was nothing compared to what the other orcs and Uruk-hai could do to her – would do to her – given the opportunity.
So, that left him with only one option…
"Because I chose you." he muttered as the thought occurred to him.
He could picture her blank, uncomprehending expression. He didn't care to enlighten her.
"Where… where are we going?" the girl asked tentatively after a minute of silence.
Another damned question, and Uglúk had enough.
"Fuck if I know!" he snapped, rounding on her and she flinched from the sheer volume of his voice. She curled into herself, and the stench of her fear spiked.
Now, that was something Uglúk came to loath very quickly. Her fear of him evoked a confusing swirl of emotions in him – shame, annoyance, pain, guilt. Emotions he was hardly capable of recognizing let alone handling.
He really didn't need this shit on an empty stomach!
With a frustrated growl he stormed out of the cave.