The Hobbit: Odd Love in Strange Times
Chapter 8 of my Hobbit story, enjoy.
Reviews
Marina Ka-Fai: Guessed you'd like him.
Boris Yeltsin: Well, there's still time before that.
Canonman89: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; yup, he's there now.
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks, yeah well, read on to see what happens next, also, it's Bard.
Sofasoap: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; yeah well, wait and see.
Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: The Hobbit belongs to JRR Tolkien; Peter Jackson and all associated companies.
Chapter 8
Tilda whimpered into the gag as the orcs forced them onwards. They had been taken away from Erebor; Tilda still shivered from the terror of knowing they were going to die; worse, that she would be first. She had only ever heard stories of orcs; but she did not doubt many of them were true. They were in the hands of cruel vicious beasts; her death would be horrific and extremely painful.
Her terror was so deep it was all she could do not to soil herself in fear. They had travelled some distance and had been forced out of the cage and were now being forced down into a cave, which turned out to be part of a network of caves. She was still trembling as the orcs dragged her along. Just ahead of her, Bain was struggling valiantly, but futilely. His attempts to shout muffled by his gag; as were Sigrid's apparent pleas.
She was being dragged in behind Tilda and was also trembling. Tilda wondered what her sister was trying to say; it was clear she was trying to say something to the orcs. But of course the beasts weren't listening and didn't care. The orcs spoke together in their harsh dark language and laughed. Tilda took the only consolation she could; having been warned by her sister about it. At least orcs, unlike any human men who may have kidnapped her, had no intention of forcibly taking her virtue. Such a thing was alien to them.
Bain growled into his gag as the orcs dragged them through the caves. He couldn't let this stand, he had to get free, he had to save his sisters. But it was no good, the orcs were too strong, the ropes too tight. Not caring about their captives; the orcs had not been gentle, as such, he and his sister's had suffered injuries, with worse ones no doubt in store.
They had also suffered damage to their clothes, but right now, their main focus was dread at their upcoming fate. Finally the orcs stopped and Bain realized they'd reached a smaller cave that the orcs had constructed a door over. It had been dressed up as a makeshift prison cell. To his surprise, their bonds and gags were removed; however then their wrists were bound again, this time in front of them.
"Scream all you want now." The Orc Commander taunted. "No one can hear you."
With that all three of them were thrown into the room, landing in a heap. The orcs then left, closing and locking the door, trapping them. They managed to move so they were all sitting upright. Bain bowed his head as he sat; his back against one of the walls. Sigrid and Tilda tugged at the ropes around their wrists, to no effect.
Tilda bit her lip and looked hopefully at Sigrid, but the older girl shook her head sadly. It was then they noticed Bain wasn't struggling. This worried them as they then saw him sitting forlornly.
Finally, Sigrid worked up the courage to speak.
"Bain?"
Bain lifted his head; the girls were shocked to see there were tears in his eyes.
He shook his head. "I…I'm sorry; this is…"
The girls shared a frightened look before Tilda spoke.
"What is it?"
Bain bowed his head again. "I'm sorry Tilda, I tried to save you; but I failed, I failed you both."
Sigrid bit back her fear and shook her head firmly. "Don't think like that Bain. They took us by surprise; you did the best you could."
"Yes, exactly." Tilda agreed with her sister.
"I feel like I didn't do a thing." Bain muttered in reply.
Sigrid sighed. "No Bain, you did, you tried to stand up to them. I'm the one who did nothing, I just…stood there."
They fell silent after that; while they wanted desperately to keep each other's spirits up, they couldn't find anything to say. Fear gnawed at them as they once more were forced to contemplate their eventual fate. Tilda sobbed as fresh tears fell and she spoke; her voice shaking.
"They're going to kill us…We're going to die."
Sigrid shook her head; trying to reassure her sister. "We won't; Da and the others will find us."
Tilda inhaled shakily. "What if they can't? They don't know where we are."
"Tauriel is an Elf; remember, if anyone can find the trail, she can." Sigrid gently reminded her sister.
Tilda nodded slowly; calming down slightly.
They tried to remain strong, but fear returned with a vengeance when they heard the heavy footsteps of the orcs once more.
"Don't react." Bain said quickly. "Don't give them any satisfaction."
The girls nodded, still afraid however. They bravely waited as the door opened and the orcs entered; the commander was nowhere to be seen, but an orc captain was at the front of the group, grinning.
"Having fun?" He taunted in harshly accented common speech. "I know we are…Or rather, were. We're getting bored, so to pass the time we decided to have a little fun with you."
That struck them cold; for orcs fun meant torture.
The captain looked around and then made up his mind. "Let's take…her, the little one."
He pointed at Tilda who immediately went white in the face. "No!"
Sigrid gasped, horrified as the orcs started to move towards her little sister.
"Tilda, no!"
But before anything else could happen; Bain propelled himself from his position, knocking into the orcs.
"Leave her be!" He cried out desperately as the captain pulled him back by the hair.
The other orcs got to their feet, glaring.
"Stupid boy." The captain growled. "So be it, he'll take the girl's place. Let's go!"
With that, the orcs seized Bain and dragged him from the room, closing and locking the door behind them as they went. Tilda stared, horrified, at the door, where her brother had been taken to some horrific fate, in her place.
"Bain." She whispered before the tears burst out and she cried uncontrollably.
Sigrid noticed this and moved over to her, managing to get her arms around Tilda and held her close. It was then, while trying to comfort Tilda; that both girls heard Bain scream in agony.
End of chapter, now the nightmare grows worse; what else awaits them, will they be saved in time, wait and see. Read and review please.