Green Cloaks || Legolas

Twenty five

"Luin!"

"Luin!"

"Luin! Wake up!"

Luin woke with a yell. There was a thick grimy hand pulling at his hair. He cried out as the orc pulled harder. In the background, he could hear Merry and Pippin calling his name. "All this hair", the orc snarled in a voice like gravel. "It gets in the way. Under our feets". He gave another vicious tug and Luin gasped. His whole body throbbed. The usual healing energy of his Qi cut off by the ropes. It felt like he had fallen from a cliff. (Which had happened before). Every muscle was sore and the light stung his eyes.

"We should just cut it off", another orc sniffed. It reached out and tangled the braids Legolas had plaited back in Lothlorien.

"No! Not my hair", Luin gasped. "Don't take my braids". If there was one thing his home culture and that of the elves shared, was that cutting off long hair was a sign of disgrace. It was a physical sign of being an outcast. Of dishonour. Luin's parents had never cut their hair more than an inch in the time he had known them. Legolas had plaited the clean strands so lovingly and carefully, as he always did. It was more than just the braids. It was how their relationship began. It was as poignant as a wedding band. Luin would rather be stabbed than have them destroyed.

He struggled in the Uruk's hold. It might have been like kicking a metal shield, for all the good it did. "Not my hair! Not my braids! Please!"

"Shut up", the first orc growled.

"Just cut it", the second orc grinned. "The white wizard did say that we could rough him up as much as we wanted". Then it was drawing a dagger from it's belt. The blade wickedly sharp. "Stay still", it growled. "Or I might slice off an ear".

"No, no, no", Luin chanted, shaking his head. The Uruk-hai carrying him grunted in annoyance.

"Hold him still", the orc with the knife snapped. The Uruk dropped Luin to the floor. He handed heavily onto the grass with a oof. The Uruk didn't give him anytime to move before it was pressing a knee into Luin's back. His weight pressing him into the dirt. Luin could smell their filthy stench and gagged as his head was wrenched backwards.

"Luin!" Merry was calling. "Unhand him you fiends!" Luin could just about see the the two hobbits out fo the corner of his eye. The two were hanging from the backs of two orcs. Their hands and feet trussed up like rabbits. Their big worried eyes fixed on him.

Luin wanted to be strong. He wanted to reassure Merry and Pippin that it would be okay. That they would get out of this. But when the orc moved closer and placed the blade to his hair, Luin broke. He gasped as his head was painfully wrenched back. "Don't take my braids! Not my hair!" There was tears in the corner of his eyes. The last trickle of pride did not allow him to let them fall, instead he glared. However, despite all the bravado, the tremor in his voice was audible enough.

The sawing of the blade seemed to last an age. Luin was forced to watch as each plait was cut off and thrown to the ground before him. Once the orc was finished cutting off each individual braid, it moved on to the long loose strands underneath. Slimy hands pulling the hair from the back of Luin's neck. "Oops", the orc giggled as the dagger carved a long deep cut into the freshly exposed skin on the back of Luin's neck. He didn't react. Blood now dripping onto the pile of hair on the grass.

"Finally", a watching orc grunted as the last strands fluttered through the air to rest on top of the ink black pile. Luin could feel the uneven short strands tickle his cheeks. His head too light and vulnerable now.

"Back to running boys", the Uruk pining Luin down called. He rose and hefted him back up onto his shoulder. Luin hanging limply down his back. The orcs all began running again. Their gait making Luin shake nauseatingly.

"Luin". The orcs carrying Merry and Pippin had moved closer. Pippin was watching him with concerned eyes. "Are you okay?"

Luin twisted his head awkwardly to look at them. "Only a cut Pippin. Nothing to worry about". He didn't mention how he felt violated. How the thought of orc hands being the last ones to touch his hair made him feel sick. How it felt like they had removed something so intrinsically apart of him, that it hurt? His hair was gone. For years, everywhere he would go, people would would look at him and know that he had been disgraced. It made him want to sob.

"I'm sure that Legolas will find us", Merry tried to sound hopeful.

Legolas. Luin knew that his lover would be following. But they couldn't wait for him to catch up. "Merry, Pippin", he stated firmly. "If you two ever see a chance to escape, go. Don't worry about me. I can handle myself".

Pippin opened his mouth to protest. "Promise me". The two hobbits looked at each other.

"Okay. Just stay safe Luin", Merry replied softly.

Luin chuckled weakly, mentally and emotionally sore. "I can promise to try".

——

"Legolas!" Aragorn's voice called him. Legolas jogged over to where the man was crouched in the dirt, fingers tracing the nearly invisible tracks of their quarry. Aragorn pointed onwards. "They slowed down here. They must have stopped up ahead. Maybe they'll be a sign". No sooner than the words had left his lips, Legolas was already running.

"And we're running again", Gimli groaned loudly from behind them. The dwarf was panting, not used to running long distances .

Legolas ignored him and picked up his pace. Ahead, he could see something black on the ground. The colour Stark against the green grass. Fear filled him as he got closer. What was it? A piece of clothing? A cloak? He staggered to a stop as he saw it for what it was. Hair. Long black hair all coiled in a dirty pile on the ground. Some of it was still in braids, ends ties with familiar blue leather cords. Leather cords that Legolas carried several off on his belt.

Slowly, with nervous hands, he knelt down and picked up one of the small plaits. The coils of soft ink hair unravelling in his hold. At his side, he heard Aragorn jog to a surprised stop. "Is that?" He asked.

"It's Luin's", Legolas murmured. He could smell blood. The substance had dried and stuck several clumps of the hair together. It made his hands shake with anger. "They cut his hair. Those beasts held him down and cut off his hair". Hair that he had spent many a night running his fingers through while Luin was fresh and sleepy from a bath. Luin loved his hair. The colour was so much darker than of others on middle earth. Legolas knew that the blue wizard would not have had it taken it from him without a fight.

"Oh lords", Gimli breathed as he caught up.

"They tried to disgrace him", Legolas snarled through gritted teeth. "How dare they insult him so".

"Not even dwarves would do this", Gimli commented. "It's like cutting off ones beard! The beard is sacred!" He brandished his axe with a yell. "Come on Elfie! We've got orcs to catch".  Legolas forced himself to stand. The braid in his grasp falling back onto the pile. As much as he wanted too, he couldn't wrap the hair up and take it with him. The black strands had been trodden into the dirt.

"We shall find him", Aragorn reassured. "Him and the hobbits".

"Come on", Legolas stated as he broke into a run. Aragorn and Gimli following just behind.

Unedited
If anyone forcibly cut my hair, I would respond with violence. Nothing should be done to your body without permission.