Sauron Gorthaur, this is the chapter you've been waiting for.

To all readers: Keep in mind that this is AU, so there'll be lots of OOCness. But it's well written OOCness.

- 3. Safe -

They journeyed on for many more weeks. Shagrat became sick and weak, but he was never allowed to rest. For if he tried, the whip licked at his ankles or slashed him in the back. His tender flesh was marred with welts and gashes from the Men's whips and the leader's cruel barbed one. He was covered head to toe in dirt, filth for which he knew no name, and dried blood from his many wounds that were left untreated. He could feel infections spread across him as he dragged himself on with the others. Shagrat had long since given up hope of ever seeing his brother again, or even making it to their destination alive. He had even stopped speaking to his mother and sister in the stars, so long had it been since his little heart had known anything but pain. No longer did he know the meaning of love or comfort. All that had been replaced by pain and fear. Little Shagrat had even lost his ability to cry at such things, and he longed only for the day when he fell forward, dead before he hit the ground. No longer did he smile at the birds or the small creatures that scurried through fields, he barely had the strength to lift his head. Every night he was shoved outside the feeding frenzy, and he was forced to eat tree bark that he had to chew until his teeth hurt. Every night, he slept away from the others, curling up as small as he could. He wished the wicked leader would release him from the spell it had him under that barred him from death.

Shagrat barely noticed when the land changed from the dead marshland to hard black ground beneath an ever present dark cloud. He was oblivious to the vast iron gates that led into this black land. He was ignorant of the many days of travel over the dead rocky plain. And he was unaware of the huge tower whose great causeway they crossed with loud orders shouted from man to man, until finally the small orcs were herded into a small side chamber at the base of the great tower.

"Don't think this is a rest break, you runts." the leader snarled, "We're only here so the Dark Lord can have a look at ya." As if on cue, a large door behind him opened and out stepped a being whose appearance rekindled Shagrat's fear, and he huddled at the back of the group with tears in his eyes.

"Are these the new orcs?" the being asked in a voice that radiated power and authority.

"Yes, my lord," the leader replied, "These are the newest to Mordor." Shagrat guessed that Mordor was the name of the land they were in. He looked up as the Dark Lord spoke again.

"Good, they are just what I was looking for. Now, to see which one I shall take with me." He ran his eyes over the whole group. Shagrat dared to look up and steal a glance at the Dark Lord.

Never before had Shagrat ever known a creature so tall and imposing in his life. Silver, spiked armor covered his entire body, and a long black cape flowed like an ebony waterfall down his back. A large silver flanged mace hung loosely from a wide leather belt around his waist. A great headdress of a helm covered his head, with six tall spine forming a crown around the top of it. But most striking of all was that Shagrat saw, or thought he saw, a pair of deep blue eyes through the eyeholes of the helm that seem almost to glow in the darkness of the chamber.

Now even more frightened, he shrank back further and curled into a tight ball, doing his best to hide the tears on his tiny face. But it did him no good: he could feel the Dark Lord's gaze land on him. Had he still known such things, he would have pitied whatever poor orc was chosen to go with this huge and menacing creature.

"You. In the back. The cryer." All eyes turned to Shagrat, who shakily lifted his head, biting his lip to hold back a whimper. He saw the one with the barbed whip staring at his tearstained face with a look of rage and disgust.

"Yes, you. Come," the Dark Lord said, "Come closer, where I can see you." Shagrat did his best to stand on his thin, weakened legs. But apparently, he wasn't fast enough, for the next thing he felt was a hard kick in his stomach that sent him sprawling to the Dark Lord's feet. Shagrat lay there, stunned from his head hitting the floor. Dimly, he heard the Dark Lord scolding the one who had kicked him.

"Watch your foot, you dimwit! It's no good to me dead!"

"My apologies, my lord." the Man replied.

"Hmph." The Dark Lord turned back to Shagrat, then to the rest of the group.

"You will all be shown to your assigned areas of trade now. You will live with the orcs already there, and learn from them what exactly you are to do. They will now be your caretakers, teachers, friends, and family. If there are any problems or emergencies, speak to the orc that leads your group, and they will report to me." With that, he turned to Shagrat, who hadn't moved from where he lay.

"You will come with me." he instructed. Shagrat let out a small whine and began to struggle to his feet again. Once again, he was kicked in the gut, this time by the one with the barbed whip.

"If the Dark Lord says you'll go, you'll go!" He received another kick on that last word that sent him sprawling through the door where he lay on his side on the hard black stone floor. He heard the door swing shut and a bar slide across it. Then there was only the sound of Shagrat's whimpering. He whimpered even more when he saw the Dark Lord turn around. Too weak to move, he lay on the floor and waited for the beating he knew was the punishment for showing weakness.

But it never came.

Instead, he felt a pair of large, warm arms gently lift his shivering form off the floor. He saw the spiked gauntlets on the ends of those arms and started scrambling frantically to get down. If he was seen in the Dark Lord's hands...

"Shh, shh, it's all right. I'm not going to hurt you, little one. You're all right now." Shagrat stopped, surprised at the sound of the voice. Gone was the intimidation. Gone was the power and authority. Gone was the loud harsh sound. In its place was a soft, gentle voice as the Dark Lord carried him through several doorways and corridors, and up many stairs. When they reached the top, the Dark Lord opened a door to reveal many neatly folded blankets and cloaks. He pulled out a large, thick one and wrapped it around Shagrat, who was still shivering. Shagrat gratefully pulled the blanket tighter around himself. The Dark Lord then carried him over to an enormous wooden rocker that sat next to a large hearth. He sat down with the little orc on his lap and gently brushed the stringy, matted hair out of the child's face.

"What is your name, little one?" he asked. Fearfully, Shagrat answered what he'd been told.

"I-I d-d-don't have-ve one. I-I'm y-yours to n-n-name." His tears started again as he realized he was nothing more than property now.

"What if I want to call you by your name, hmm? What if I like your name?" Silence. Then,

"Sh-Sh-Sh-Shag-grat. It-it's Sh-Shagrat." The little orc shook as he tried to hold in his sobs.

"Shagrat." the Dark Lord repeated, "I like that very much. As you know, I'm the Dark Lord. But why don't you just call me Sauron, all right, Shagrat?"

"Yes, S-Sauron." the orc replied, wiping tears from his eyes.

"What's wrong, little Shagrat? Why do you cry so?" But Shagrat bit his lip and shook his head, fearing what his answer would bring. Sauron could see that the baby orc was fighting back a torrent, and he was losing that fight.

"It's okay, Shagrat. Go ahead and let it out. I promise, I won't hurt you." Shagrat strained against the force of his emotions until it became too much. He flung himself forward and locked his arms around Sauron's neck and buried his face in the Dark Lord's shoulder, his sobs echoing through the rooms. Tears flowed like the Falls of Rauros from his eyes as he hugged Sauron for all he was worth.

And Sauron hugged him back.

Shagrat felt the strong arms around him again. He felt the hot breath as the Dark Lord wrapped his neck around the tiny baby. They sat that way for some time, Sauron gently rocking them back and forth while gently stroking Shagrat's hair. Finally, Shagrat calmed enough to where he could speak again.

"I miss Mama, Sauron. And Isthey, too."

"Where is your mama?" Sauron asked. Shagrat made a slicing motion across his neck with his finger.

"Men." he said, "They got baby sister, too."

"Ohhhhhhhhhh," Sauron gasped. Shagrat launched into telling the entire story of how his mother and little sister died, crying some more as he did. Sauron listened intently, nodding every so often and occasionally brushing tears off Shagrat's face. He was very gentle with Shagrat, as he could see that the poor child was injured and Sauron didn't want to hurt him more.

Suddenly, Shagrat's speech was interrupted by a violent fit of coughing that left him weary and gasping for breath. Without realizing what he was doing, Shagrat leaned heavily against Sauron's chest.

"You are sick!" Sauron cried. He laid the palm of his large, gauntletted hand on Shagrat's forehead. Shagrat could feel a slight tingling in his skin where Sauron's hand was.

"Mmhmm." Shagrat wheezed, "I hurt, too."

"Where?" Sauron asked, his voice full of concern as he held the little orc.

"Everywhere." Shagrat whimpered, "Bad Men hurt me every day. Said I don't move fast enough. They hit me." He lowered the blanket and turned so Sauron could see his back. Sauron gasped when he saw the amount of welts on the baby orc's back, and the scars from various untreated wounds, all overrun with infection.

"Oh, you poor child! Come, we must see to your wounds immediately!" With that, Sauron stood and rushed out of the room with Shagrat in his arms.

"Rhea! Gaia!" At this call, two orcs stopped what they were doing and followed the Dark Lord, their long dresses swishing as they turned the corner.

"What is it, my lord?" the taller one asked as they entered Sauron's quarters.

"This little one is sick and hurt. You two are my best healers." Sauron turned to them. "If anyone can help him, it would be you two." The smaller one gave a little bow.

"Rhea and I will do everything in our power, my lord. Not a drop of our talents shall be wasted."

"Thank you, Gaia." Sauron said. He then turned to Shagrat.

"I'm going to send you with Rhea and Gaia now so they can help your wounds and give you something to help with your sickness. They are very nice and won't hurt you at all, I promise. All right? Do you trust me, little Shagrat?" The baby nodded as Sauron lowered him into Rhea's waiting arms.

"You two see to his injuries and illness. I will go find him some food and a place to sleep, as well as some better clothing." Sauron instructed, noting that Shagrat only had a scrap of cloth tied around his waist.

Shagrat watched over Rhea's shoulder as Sauron walked off down the hallway and disappeared around the corner.


As they were bandaging the last of Shagrat's wounds, Sauron returned. Shagrat quickly covered his face to hide the fact that he had been crying as his wounds were reopened and medicine spread on them. He didn't want Sauron to think they had tried to hurt him; he knew they hadn't meant to cause him pain, but it was inevitable.

"Shagrat, it's all right. Look at me." Sauron's voice was gentle, yet commanding. Reluctantly, Shagrat lifted his head. Sauron reached down and brushed a tear out of his eye.

"It's all right to cry if you're hurt, Shagrat. I won't beat you for that, never. Actually," the Dark Lord leaned in closer and took one of Shagrat's tiny hands in both of his large ones, "Actually, I will never beat you, period."

"Never?" Shagrat whimpered. Sauron shook his head slowly.

"Never. I love you, little Shagrat. And I always will." Shagrat gasped as he heard those words. They were the same words that were on the necklace he wore. The same words his mother and his brother had said to him. The same words he thought he'd never hear again.

He spent the entire time he was eating (Sauron had brought him some soup from the kitchens) trying to think of what he could say to Sauron. The Dark Lord had no idea how deeply he had touched the little one's heart with just nine simple words. As Sauron carried him to bed and tucked him in, the perfect response came to him.

"Sauron?" The Dark Lord looked down at him.

"Yes, little one?" Shagrat held his arms up toward Sauron's neck. The Maia picked up the little orc and hugged him.

"You love me, Sauron?"

"Of course, little Shagrat. I will always love you." Shagrat wrapped his arms around Sauron's neck. "Why do you ask?"

"'Cause I love you, too, Sauron." The Dark Lord hugged him tighter, and though Shagrat couldn't see it, Sauron was smiling.


Aawwww, ain't that sweet?

Yay, I FINALLY get to write my "sweet" Sauron! Review and tell me what you think of him.