Ugh. Guys, seriously? I got, like, one review. O.O I WILL NOT UPDATE this story unless I get some positive feedback!

:(.

Alright, *wipes tears*, on with the *sob* chapter.

"If you would just move into the light-"

"There is no light!"

"Calm down, Thurin! Just move a little to the left-"

"Ack! Just finish!"

"I'm working as fast as I can!"

So began our night(no, that isn't a typo. I say night instead of day because we spent the day sleeping, see last chapter for details).

"That's it. You can finish the beard disguise yourself." Esgalnoron groaned, slumping down on the floor, cradling his head in his functioning hand.

I suddenly felt incredibly guilty.

"Esgalnoron, I'm sorry-"

"Too late. Finish it yourself."

I stumbled to the far wall and leant against it, burying my face into my hands, silent tears dripping down my cheeks.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" He spat after a moment of bitter silence.

I didn't move.

Esgalnoron sighed, running his hand through his disheveled hair.

"Thurin, you're not crying, are you?"

I froze, quickly wiped my eyes, before answering: "No. Not at all. I'm fine."

"I cannot STAND THIS CELL!" Esgalnoron erupted suddenly, grabbing our single wooden stool and throwing it aggressively at the low stone ceiling.

"You know what this cell is missing? It's missing a horse!" He grumbled, trying his best not to hyperventilate.

I snickered.

I couldn't help myself, the imagery his words brought to mind was terribly humorous.

Esgalnoron raised his eyebrows dangerously.

My snickering turned to downright laughter, my tears of sadness quickly turning to tears of mirth.

"Thurin, what in Arda are you laughing at? This is no time for laughing."

"Sorry, but, honestly, a horse? You're only half Rohirrim, you know."

"I know very well. All my relatives from the mark are constantly complaining that I'm only half Rohirrim, and my Rangery friends think that it's one half too much."

"I'm sorry. But still, imagine if there was a horse..."

Esgalnoron smiled grimly.

I suppressed a giggle.

"How are we going to escape?" He asked sadly, after a turbulent silence.

"We could kill the man who brings us food, and escape."

"Not going to work. Aha! We could escape through the window!"

"You might be able to fit through that window, but not I."

It was true, Esgalnoron and I had very different body shapes. He was tall and skinny, and I was short and rounded.

"Alright then, let's think about your plan some more. We only have one guard, how would both of us escape?"

"What do you mean? Wouldn't it be easier with one?"

"Oh, you were talking about just killing and running. Interesting, I was thinking about the old dress as the guard and sneak away idea."

"Alright, yes, we only have one guard...I know! We could both squeeze into his clothes!"

Esgalnoron's eyes widened.

"How would that ever work? What would your Da say?"

"Lighten up. It's a brotherly act of trust, you know."

"How would it be a brotherly act of trust?"

"Only one of us could have our heads out, so the other would be trusting him or her."

"Interesting... But still, I don't see how that could work."

"Hmm, maybe you could escape out the window, and I could escape by killing the guard?"

"It's worth a try. He'll probably be here soon, help me out."

I positioned myself on my hands and knees, and he put a foot gingerly on my back.

"Ready?"

"Yep." I grunted, slowly hoisting him up.

"Almost...got it!"

He had his hands on the sill.

I stood up, his feet on my shoulders.

"See you in the forest!"

"Same!"

And then he was gone.

I heard some scratching noises, those of his easing down the outside wall(which must of been very hard, considering his broken arm), and then a small thump as he hit the ground, and finally a scuttling noise as he hurried off.

I suddenly felt very lonely, and cold.

I spent the first few moments crying softly before I leapt into action.

I stripped off all my clothes other than my undergarments and tied them around my waist and breast to even things out, hoping that I would be able to fit into the large guard's uniform.

Soon I heard a clanking of keys and I raised the battered stool, ready to strike.

"Heres your break-"

THUNK

He was out cold.

I hurriedly ripped off his tunic, electing to leave the breeches.

The tunic went long enough on me that I didn't need them anyway.

I pulled the cap over my hair and face, donned the tunic, and slunk off.

"Hey!"

I froze.

"How's your family doing? Your brother gotten any sense knocked into him yet?"

Good, he was fooled.

I coughed loudly.

"Um, well, you see, I...have to use the privy, just give me a moment."

The other man nodded understandingly as I hurried off, praying hopefully that he didn't notice my long raven hair or lack of breeches.

Luckily, it was too dark in the little cold jail to notice anything, and I rushed into the woods, avoiding anyone I saw.

It was then that I noticed what a terrible plan ours was.

"Esgalnoron, Esgalnoron!" I hissed, hurriedly changing back into my preferred Ranger-garb.

No answer.

I searched the whole perimeter around the village, hoping for any sign of him.

Nothing.

I began to get worried.

I searched all day, my heart in my throat.

"It's no use." I sighed, kicking a mound of snow aside with my boot before collapsing with exhaustion and frustration.

::::::::::::::::

I awoke shivering, several hours later. It was no use trying to sleep in this cold, no matter how tired I was.

I rose slowly, flexing all my muscles in an attempt to get the stiffness of sleeping on the cold, hard ground out of them.

Then I started walking. There was definitely a trail of some sort: trampled grass, dubious imprints in the snow. But I had never been one for tracking, unlike my father. These tracks could be from a large tribe of rabbits for all I knew.

The farther I followed the tracks the more there seemed to be, as if more beings were joining the group.

As the sun began to dip lower in the sky, I thought I smelt something vague in the distance.

Smoke. A campfire, maybe.

I picked up my pace, tripping over logs, stones, and even my own feet.

As the sun began to rise I broke through a line of trees and froze, horrified.

A large campfire burned brightly, sending smoke all across the forest. Surrounding it was a small band of orcs, and in the middle was Esgalnoron, bound and gagged.

He was shaking his head frantically, trying desperately to tell me something.

I cocked my head sideways, wondering what he could mean. I was safely hidden behind a screen of bushes, no one but him could see me.

I was wrong.

I body landed on mine, knocking the air out of me.

I keeled forward, and my face connected with a rock.

Everything went black.

:::::::::::::::

"Mph! Mnph, Mph!"

My eyes flickered open.

Esgalnoron was laying right beside me, struggling against his bonds.

I realized I was bound as well, in fact, they had tied us to each other.

A look of relief passed over his face as he realized I was awake.

He gestured at a group of orcs with his head, and I noticed someone I recognized in the midst of them.

The leader of the Ranger-hating men.

He was covered in deep cuts, most likely from the knife-fight we had left him in.

I bent backwards, trying to bring my hands up to Esgalnoron's gag. Seeing what I was attempting he leant forward, and I was finally able to grasp the cloth. With difficulty I managed to loosen it, enough so he could speak. Then we leant the other way and he did the same for me.

"Are you alright?" He whispered once this small feat was accomplished.

"My head hurts terribly, I think I slammed it on the ground when he jumped on me, but other than that, I think I am alright."

"Good. There is blood though, all over your face. It turns out the Ranger-hating men were working for these orcs, to capture Rangers. Apparently there have been quite a few other Rangers passing through lately."

"How do you know all this?"

He looked offended.

"I have ears, you know."

I nodded, blinking the blood out of my eyes.

"We set off tomorrow, I've seen signs of another Ranger a little ways away." A nasty, huge Orc sneered, pulling us from our whispered conversation.

"Yes, but what about me? You promised you would pay!" The leader of the Ranger-hating men growled with frustration, waving his arms wildly.

"You have served us enough. You took far too long to bring these two to us. Leave, before we kill you."

The man looked scared, but he wouldn't give up.

"You promised! I'll just take them to someone who will pay if you don't-"

He froze, before keeling over, a knife in his back.

"When do we kill them, boss?" A small, feisty little ord whined impatiently, gazing over at our persons hungrily.

"Sauron says kill all the Rangers you find, why haven't we killed them yet?" Another one added, drawing his knife.

"Because," The large, dangerous looking orc spat, grabbing the little one by the shoulder, "we can use them as bait for other Rangers. Then we kill them."

I shuddered.

"Come! Let's find more!" He called, summoning the entire band. There were seven of them, in all.

The largest, and strongest, lumbered over to us. He grabbed and slung us over his shoulder, and proceeded to join the others.

There is nothing worse than being slung over the shoulder and carried like a dead deer by a gigantic, disgusting orc all day long.

Two hours into it I felt like I had died.

:::::::::::

"Look! His tracks, he is around here somewhere." The head scout growled, pointing out uncharacteristically obvious Ranger footprints.

I was slipping between consciousness and not.

Esgalnoron was looking very worried.

"We're almost there, I can smell him." The small, hungry-looking one sighed happily as we neared a clearing.

"Now, Rangers, call for help, lure him here, or you die." Our carrier instructed in a gruff, meaty voice.

Esgalnoron perked up, as if he was hearing something. I was too far gone to care.

"Well?"

Suddenly a blur of green cloak and brown hair burst through the trees, slamming into the small orc, before drawing a long knife and making short work of several others.

The leader orc engaged him in combat, but was defeated.

Finally he leapt over towards us, wrestling the last orc to the ground.

He rose, wiping the orc blood from his arms.

Esgalnoron was so happy he nearly burst into tears.

"Well, what Ranger-troupe are you from? Who's your captain?" He asked gruffly, stabbing the still-twitching body of a nearly-dead orc.

"Thorongil! It's us!" Esgalnoron cried, struggling against his bonds.

Thorongil looked surprised, hurrying over and actually looking at us closely for the first time.

"Esgalnoron! Thurin! Wait, does Thurin have...a beard?!" His voice rose and octave with surprise as he hurriedly began cutting our ropes.

"Remnants of man-disguise." Esgalnoron explained as shook me roughly, rousing me from my half-conscious state.

"Hmm?" I mumbled, burying my face in his shoulder and rolling over.

"Thurin! Wake up! Sorry, Thorongil, she's been sort of woozy ever since she got knocked out-"

"She got knocked out! Where have you two been? Esgalnoron! What happened to your arm? Thurin, what happened to your face!"

Esgalnoron smiled nervously.

"Long story. My arm is fine-"

"No it isn't, you broke it." I mumbled, managing to drag my eyes open.

Thorongil was having problems deciding who he should cure first.

"Here, Esgalnoron, I'll unwrap your arm and take a look...who did this bandaging? This is terrible work..."

"Thurin did." Esgalnoron smiled weakly, trying to zone out as he became aware of the bloodied bodies of orcs all around him.

Thorongil glared at me accusingly before proceeding to fully unwrap and inspect Esgalnoron's arm.

He grimaced.

"Exactly how long has this been broken?"

"A couple of weeks."

"You are one brave man, Esgalnoron, I'll give you that." My father sighed as he searched a pouch at his side for some herbs before re-wrapping and splinting the arm.

"Here, this should help with pain." He handed Esgalnoron a small herb to eat, before turning balefully upon me.

"And what, exactly, happened to you, young lady?"

"A Ranger-hating man jumped out of a tree and landed on top of me,"

"And?"

"I hit my head on a rock."

"Interesting. Anything else?"

"Esgalnoron has a cough."

"Thurin! Why did you have to tell him that!"

Thorongil quickly bestowed the death-glare upon Esgalnoron, immediately silencing him.

"Esgalnoron, can you walk?"

"I can't see why not."

"Come on then." So saying, Thorongil hoisted me up in his arms, wiping off some of the blood decorating my forehead off with his sleeve, and bringing us to his hidden camp-site.

::::::::::::::

"Thurin, daughter, wake up!" Thorongil whispered, shaking my shoulders.

"What? How did you get here? Oh, I remember, it wasn't a dream after all."

"No, it wasn't. How are you feeling?"

"Fine. I have a headache, but nothing too bad. How is Esgalnoron?"

"I'm fine!" He called from the other side of the fire, smiling brightly.

"Good, now that's settled, we must decide what we are going to do. Thurin, I need to leave, I still have much I must do."

I frowned.

"But why? Why are you always gone, why can't I come with you?"

"That is what I wanted to discuss. Thurin, I have been thinking, that, perhaps, well..."

"Yes?"

"I have been thinking about how things will change, and I...was wondering if you could accompany me, when you and Esgalnoron are well."

My eyes widened.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. It would be dangerous, very, very dangerous. But you may only come if Esgalnoron agrees."

I sat bolt upright. I hadn't realized that this would mean leaving Esgalnoron behind.

My companion swallowed nervously, I saw the indecision in his features.

I had always known that Esgalnoron was my best friend, that we would always be there for each other. But I had never realized just how good a friend he was until that moment, when he was faced with that choice.

"Yes. I am alright with that. I will travel to 'Hobbiton' with the other Rangers, and wait."

His voice was even but his eyes betrayed him. He looked like his hands were being chopped off.

He knew how much this meant to me, and at that moment, I realized just how good of a friend I was blessed with. Someone who would wait for me, possibly for many years, just so I could be with my father.

"It is settled. Rest up, you two. I say we part ways in two days, maybe."

:::::::::::::::::

"Goodbye Esgalnoron."

I turned, and began to walk away, following my father.

"Thurin, wait!"

I turned back.

"Here, I want to give you these."

He hurriedly pulled a string from around his neck. Strung on it were three shiny, brilliant beads.

"These are mithril, and they look to be made by the dwarves themselves! How did you get these?"

"My father's father's father saved the life of a dwarf, becoming severely injured in the process. The dwarf gave him these in thanks. They are a family heirloom, either to be worn by the eldest son, or given to his, ehrm, closest friend. I never wear them, so, I thought you could.

Remember me, I will be waiting." He deftly braided and strung them into my long hair.

"Farewell, Esgalnoron." I felt as if my heart was being torn out of me. I smiled faintly at him before hurrying to catch up with my long-legged father.

What Esgalnoron told me about the beads wasn't exactly true; they were to be given to the eldest son who could either wear them himself or give them to his lover, but Esgalnoron hadn't felt that last part necessary as long as Thorongil was in hearing distance.

What will happen next? What will happen to Esgalnoron? Where are Thorongil and Thurin going? Who is Thorongil, really? What happened to the rest of the Rangers? Will Esgalnoron and Thurin ever see each other again? If so, will they ever be more than good friends?

Please review, I'm serious, I will just finish this story and not post it if I get so few reviews again. :(

PLEASE REVIEW,

*sob*,

~Thurin