I do not own Lord of the Rings, or any characters within it. Any characters and plot lines I create are mine.
A/N: Here we are with chapter two. We have now jumped seventeen years to 3016 Third Age, with a nineteen year old Azruphel. Enjoy!
Chapter 2: Friendships and Tensions
3016 Third Age
"Khamûl!"
The Nazgûl turned upon hearing his name, the black cloak making a nearly silent noise as it brushed the cold, stone floor. Adûnaphel was moving swiftly, almost gliding across the floor like a ghost. Then again, they nearly were ghosts.
"Have you seen Azruphel?"
"No, and you won't see her, probably not for a few days. Er-Murazor wanted to meet with her for training. You know how she gets after that."
The Witch-King had decided a year ago that Azruphel was ready to carry her ring. The then eighteen year old had been ecstatic, taking at as a right of passage. Er-Murazor had then put Azruphel in personal training for basic sorcery, which Azruphel had not been excelling in at all. Normally after a lesson, Azruphel would disappear for several days before one of the Nazgûl would finally track her down, meaning at that point she could be anywhere in Mordor.
"Will you talk to her? When she gets back, that is," Adûnaphel asked. Khamûl nodded, wondering where he should begin. It was difficult to explain to Azruphel that there were some parts of her life that she would not excel at. She took to sword fighting like she was born to, and seemed to absorb language. She knew most Middle-earth languages, except Elvish, as no one was willing to teach her. She was becoming an expert negotiator, and would be an incredible asset to Mordor. The only things other than these new lessons that Azruphel could not do was archery (it was not that she couldn't, she just preferred not to) and swimming. With archery, Azruphel could at least hit a target when she did not hit center, but swimming challenges had left her with a fear of water so great that she would not go near it unless she had to.
Khamûl sighed. He wondered where she would be this time.
***Azruphel***
"Ready for our duel?"
The orc to whom the question was directed jumped and looked at the nineteen year old in a slightly fearful manner, and Azruphel could not help but giggle. The girl, now a young woman, had an annoying habit of sneaking up on people. Shagrat may be in charge at Cirith Ungol, but he still submitted to Azruphel when she came for visits.
"I have work to do, Human," Shagrat stated, hoping to get away from her. As he turned away and started up the stairs, Azruphel followed.
"You aren't afraid, are you?"
Shagrat turned back to her. Azruphel was not like all the other Nazgûl. For starters, she did not need a long black cloak to give herself shape and cover the transparency. Azruphel may ride with the Nazgûl, but she was still very much human. She wore mail and a simple leather shirt, long pants, and boots for the most part, though they were still of a black color. She rarely wore the long traveling cloak. She also appeared to carry only one sword, but Shagrat knew better. There was at least one knife hidden somewhere, probably more. From a distance, she looked like a man, however Shagrat knew that was not a concern of Azruphel's.
"Why would I be afraid? I told you once, I have work to do."
"You are in Cirith Ungol. Unless you are tracking down another unfortunate orc who happened upon Shelob, or breaking up a petty fight, then you aren't doing anything at the moment. Besides, I haven't been up here in a while, and I seem to recall you wanting a rematch after our last fight," Azruphel simply stated, knowing that attacking Shagrat's pride would eventually lead to a fight, planned or otherwise.
Shagrat stopped and considered. "Courtyard. Ten minutes."
Azruphel was already in the courtyard when Shagrat returned, and the two began, attracting the attention of several orcs until there was a circle around them. There was a time when Shagrat would have to go easy on Azruphel, but she had grown into an accomplished swordsman and had to now back off on Shagrat. Every move was precise and calculated, and she moved gracefully from an offensive to defensive stance without missing a beat. They ended quickly, with the tip of Azruphel's sword centimeters away from Shagrat's throat. Azruphel smiled knowingly, and then challenged the rest of the company to a quick duel. When none moved, she dismissed them as frightened, and no one challenged her assumption. While Azruphel beating Shagrat should have been a sign of weakness on Shagrat's part, the courage he showed by facing her meant more than his defeat. Though she was disappointed that the fight had ended so quickly, Azruphel decided instead to allow her friend a little honor by only beating him once.
Shagrat's and Azruphel's friendship was one of the most unusual friendships in Mordor. Shagrat considered Azruphel to be an arrogant child while Azruphel thought Shagrat was a greedy bastard. Their friendship began the first time Azruphel had become frustrated and ran from Minas Morgul. Few knew about the tunnels that ran from Minas Morgul to Cirith Ungol, but Azruphel, who knew every secret of the tower, had followed them after a bad day. As she searched for food in Cirith Ungol, Shagrat found her. What he was going to do to her, Azruphel never asked, but he was interrupted by a dispute in the courtyard over a stolen knife. Azruphel had scanned the crowd of orcs while Shagrat argued with the disgruntled orc, and identified the culprit by the fact that the particular orc was the only one not interested in the situation. The orc charged Azruphel, who proved herself to be a rather formidable opponent, but as her size was becoming an issue, Shagrat had jumped to her aid. From then on, Azruphel's presence kept the peace in Cirith Ungol, and mutual respect slowly turned to a weird friendship.
"So, why are you here this time," Shagrat began.
"The great and powerful leader of the Nazgûl is an annoying, pretentious wraith who does not understand that I have only been alive for nineteen years, not hundreds like he has."
"I figured it was him. That is why you were here the last time."
"He just doesn't understand that sorcery comes easily to him because he has been a Nazgûl for a long time," Azruphel complained.
"Go whip him or something," Shagrat suggested.
"What is it with orcs and whips?" Azruphel teased. "Sure, that would go over very well. And if it even hurt him, I would be dead before I even got close. I don't know. He never really respected me. The others do, but not the Great Er-Murazor."
With that, they changed the subject, until it was time for Shagrat to return to his duties, and Azruphel resigned herself to returning home. It was not long until she ran into Khamûl, the last person she wanted to see.
"I heard today's lesson did not go as planned," he called without preamble.
"Did you hear it from him?" Azruphel asked.
"Your mother told me."
"Oh."
"She wants me to talk to you."
"That's nice," Azruphel yawned, sitting down on a rock. Khamûl sat next to her, and watched as she played with the magnificent ring hanging around her neck. She took it off when she wanted to disappear.
"You know, every Ring has a unique quality. No, listen!" he said when Azruphel rolled her eyes. "What Er-Murazor is doing is introducing you to -"
"- to every 'quality' to see if it works, I know already. I have heard this speech before."
"What was today's lesson on?"
"He was trying to get me to conjure fire on an object. And before you ask if anything happened, I was able to light a candle."
Khamûl was surprised. Azruphel had no luck previously on anything related to sorcery. "Well, that is very good."
"Not to him! He thinks that I should be able to burn a house down already!" Azruphel was practically yelling.
"Listen to me. Er-Murazor never was able to show anything relating to praise. He may be proud, but he does not know how to show it. Keep at the lessons for a while, for me! If it does not work, then it does not work. We will find what works for you."
Azruphel sat in silence for a while, thinking about what Khamûl had said. How would a man who had lived hundreds of years with adults know how to act around a child? It was not surprising that he knew nothing of praise. Azruphel would have to think it over.
Looking at Khamûl, she simply said, "Thank you, Father."
Khamûl was startled. Azruphel rarely thanked anyone for anything, and Khamûl paused before responding.
"You are welcome."
A/N: An unlikely friendship for Azruphel in the form of Shagrat, however it seemed fitting that she would connect more with orcs, who are more mortal beings and understand what it means to not be invincible. Also, I am going off the idea that the Nazgûl faded over time to Sauron's influence. While Azruphel is on Sauron's side, her strong, possible subconscious, will is keeping her from fading quickly.
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