Here's the next chapter! Or, you know, whatever. I feel like everything in this story is OOC but idk…
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Eowyn awoke from a dreamless sleep. At least, she thought. In a cavern such as this, it was difficult to distinguish slumber from waking consciousness. Stretching for a moment, she set back out in the direction she was going. The tunnel stretched on and she crawled for hours, her muscles aching, her back pleading to stand, or sit upright, anything but this. Her shoulder had stopped bleeding so much and had begun scabbing over. She noted to be careful not to reopen the wound with too much activity. Surrounded by so much darkness, she pushed back the intense feeling of dread that followed her every move. What if the tunnel went on forever? She told herself she was being ridiculous. Press on.
She thought it had been getting lighter, very gradually. Partly because she could finally, sort of, see her hand in front of her face now. It was getting harder and harder to go on, though. She thought, with hope, perhaps the path was sloping upward. She took a short break, resting just for a moment to give her sore body a moment to recuperate before going again. Here the path began to twist without warning, the going got even slower. Feeling her way around, she progressed.
Suddenly, just like a sun peeking from behind storm clouds, she turned a corner and could see light, and she could see very well all at once. Picking up her pace she went to the next corner, and when she turned it, she was bathed in the sunlight of early evening. She went up to the mouth of the cave and stood up, breathing a sigh of relief. Leaning her back on the rock face above the tunnel entrance, she shielded her eyes from the sunlight, gradually getting her eyes used to the light once more. She had been a few days in darkness or, at the least, cloudy weather, but finally she could see that the sun and light were still there, and would go on.
Orienting herself, she had decided she must be facing north, as the sun was setting. With dread she realized Isengard lay North of the Deep. Where could she go? Not West, straight into Dunland. She assumed she must be fairly close to the Gap of Rohan. To the East, of course there was her homeland and to the Southeast, there was Edoras. In that case she would have to cross back past Helm's Deep. That was the last place she wanted to go now. Even then, who knew what state Edoras would be in by the time she arrived? To the South there was not much else but rocks and mountains. Each direction stretched out a promise of sorrow and hardship. She would have to find food, and clean water. She had no bow to hunt with (and would be hard pressed to chase down some wild beast with a sword in her current state), and the mountain was bare.
She gazed up at the sky, though sunny, something had changed in it. As if it had turned sour. This is what the world has become. She reminded herself.
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"That was so close." Aragorn breathed, driving his shoulder further beneath Haldir's barely responsive body. It had taken him and Legolas an hour or two just to get Haldir up the hill and out of the Deep. They took great care to keep his stomach perpendicular to the ground or facing slightly upwards, quite a feat when the elf was prone to slumping over in his weary state. "So fucking close."
"We should count ourselves lucky." Legolas, who was on the other side of Haldir, squeezed Aragorn's shoulder. "It is very unlike an orc to release his prey. He is to gain something from this, I am sure."
Haldir just 'hmpf'ed.
"You could have died." Aragorn informed Haldir, as if he did not already understand the weight of the situation.
"Good, I would rather have. I would prefer dying to life in a world that is to follow now that Helm's Deep has been lost."
"Haldir," Legolas' voice built strength. "The war is not yet lost."
"Then why did you not fight?!" The elder elf was surprisingly still full of fire, despite the vicious beating he had only just been released from.
Legolas was silent for a moment, gazing onto the horizon, likely looking out for some sign of friend or foe. But the path away from the Deep was empty. "Now we are free. We cannot destroy an entire orc army, not the three of us, not even the 50 or so that we have been separated from. But now we are free, and can gather an army of our own, we can ready the men of the land for a fight, something we could not have done otherwise. That Uruk-hai commander made a grave mistake letting us live. If we had fought, we may be dead, our corpses are of no use to anyone."
Haldir laughed a bitter laugh. "We'll do exactly what he wants us to do."
"Precisely." Aragorn said. "He said the readiness of men to fight would do them no good. He underestimates the people of Middle Earth."
"They'll need help, Aragorn. Who do you ask? Lothlorien? I know they will not assist you anymore than what we have given, which has been lost. Where-"
"Gondor." Aragorn interrupted. "Gondor will assist us."
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Dagaz sat on the floor before the map Saruman had given him and repeatedly flicked over the crudely carved wooden figurine he had chosen to represent Theoden in his battle planning. The girl that was delivered to him crouched in the corner and watched him silently through narrowed eyes. His eyes flicked over to her and she jumped a little in surprise that he had looked at her. He smirked and flicked the tiny statue over extra hard that time. It slid over to the other side of the tent where he could not reach. He looked at her again.
"Do you mind?"
Her brow furrowed and she shrunk a little, seemingly ready for an attack. Dagaz lifted an eyebrow and stared at her without a word. After about a minute she tentatively stood and picked up the figurine, holding it in her hands and considering it as she walked shakily over to her captor and handed it to him. He watched her intently, and took the statue from her hand. Their skin brushed together and her hands retreated in great fear before Dagaz hand a chance to get a hold of the token, it dropped to the ground.
Dagaz roared with laughter and the girl went immediately back to her corner. He was unsure why the situation struck him as so hilarious. He wished that girl over there wasn't so skittish, though.
Lugurt dared a glance into Dagaz's tent, and seeing that not much was transpiring, said in Black Speech, "Dagaz, a word?"
"Come in." He chuckled, seeming to be coming back into sobriety from some overly hilarious occasion. "I've been expecting you for quite some time. You say you have news for me? ".
"Pardon your wait, I thought perhaps…" Lugurt rasped as he glanced at the Human in the corner as his words trailed off.
"I just wanted to look at her." Dagaz didn't feel any need to explain himself to this common orc. What he preferred to do with the girl was his business.
Lugurt grunted, considering the human girl so small and vulnerable. "A waste of a defenseless human if you ask me."
"I didn't." Dagaz growled. "What do you need?"
Lugurt swallowed in panic, sensing Dagaz's mood fouling. "Some of the soldiers, now, understand, not me, never me, but I have overheard… some of the soldiers questioning your… leadership skills." Lugurt divulged to his commander, who squinted at his constituent.
"Oh, I'm sure you were not involved in such trivial gossip, Lugurt." Dagaz stated tersely. "But in the future, do me a favour. Next time you hear a group of soldiers saying such things, kill them all."
Lugurt nodded curtly, looking slightly concerned, and left his present company. Dagaz sighed and looked over at his frightened companion.
"All orcs are idiots." He thought he saw her mouth curve up slightly, if only for the faintest second.
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At the risk of her livelihood, Eowyn decided simply to stay put. Better to be living hungry and parched than slain by orcs, or worse. She set off to find her way around the area, marking her cave with a wayward tumbleweed, and set out until it was dark.
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I think that may be the last of Dagaz but not sure. If anyone wants more from Dagaz, I suggest you speak up because he'll probably be cut next chapter. Anyway, reviews are appreciated but not demanded. Hope you enjoyed your stay at my story.