Hunted

Chapter 10

Legolas had come to just a few minutes after the sun had settled and the sky had started to darken. His incredibly painful headache was back, but this time he was able to more successfully ignore it. His eyes didn't seem to want to open though, so he just kept them closed and tried to remember what situation he was currently in. His concussion seemed to be lessening up, so his thoughts came a little faster and more clearly.  After a few minutes, he remembered— they had been trying to escape the orcs. They made it out into the woods...And then what?  That must have been when Legolas had passed out, because it was all blank from there.

His eyelids fluttered and opened slightly as he tried to sit up, and then realized he was already standing. And apparently tied against something because he couldn't move his arms.

Ai Elbereth, his arms!  The pain came back so suddenly that it caused Legolas to wince and a small sound of pain came out of him. One arm was broken, if he remembered correctly.  And the other...

Legolas tried his best to clear his foggy and pain-filled mind as he desperately attempted to remember what was wrong with his other arm.

Oh right. Arrow wound in his shoulder.  Stupid concussion.

Well anyway, both of his arms hurt horribly. The fact that they were pressed against the sides of his body with rope certainly didn't help matters.

Because elves were immune to getting sick, the feeling of nausea almost never came to them, so Legolas was taken by surprise when he realized that he felt nauseous (from the concussion, pain, or both, he didn't know). A soft groan escaped his lips as his eyes opened fully.

Oh no. No no no no no. The orc camp. So they had been taken captive again. At least that would explain why he was tied up.

"Legolas?" A quiet voice coming from his right said. Legolas wearily turned his head and saw Elrohir there.

"..'Ro..?" Legolas muttered in reply, squinting his eyes. It annoyed him how his words were slurred together again. He couldn't even fully say Elrohir's name. This was tragic indeed. At the very least, he was glad that his vision wasn't so blurred that he couldn't tell the twins apart from each other. Just another joyful sign that his concussion was clearing up. Thank Arda for quick Elven healing.

"Yes Legolas, me. Elrohir.  Are you alright? Are you able to handle the pain?"  His voice was filled to the brim with concern, and while Legolas appreciated it, it also annoyed him. He may be injured, but he wasn't helpless. Well... he sort of was right now, but that wasn't the point.

"'M fine. Where's 'Dan?"

Legolas wasn't sure since he didn't trust his eyes right now, but he thought he saw Elrohir tense up.  "He ran when we couldn't. To get help. We'll be rescued soon, Legolas."

It took Legolas a couple of seconds to process those words, but then he gave a very subtle nod of his head. "Good."  He didn't have the energy to think anymore on it. He didn't ask how they got caught again, though he assumed it was his fault. It couldn't have been easy to try to escape a pack of orcs while supporting an unconscious elf.  "Are you injured?"  his words were coming more easily now. 

Elrohir seemed a little surprised by that question. His eyebrows arched. "Me? I'm fine. It's you we should worry about."

The edges of Legolas' lips turned upward in a slight smile.  "Told you...already. Never better."

Elrohir has to fight the urge to roll his eyes. That was a lie, if he'd ever heard one. But the fact that Legolas attempted to hide his pain meant it was a bit less than earlier. It was bearable. That at least, was good.  "Of course you are."

Legolas opened his mouth, and was about to reply, when a rather large orc came up to Elrohir with a particularly wicked smile on their face.  They hastily untied him and then tugged Elrohir by his long hair and pulled him over to where the other orcs were.  "What's going on? Stop!" Elrohir said almost frantically, a look of alarm on his face. He was pushed to the ground.

"We're gonna have some fun with you. Make you hurt real bad before we leave you to die.  It'll teach you not to escape us," one orc sneered.

Legolas watched this scene from the tree where he was tied up. He didn't like the looks of this. Most of the orcs has their weapons in hand, including swords, knives, maces and scimitars.  He already knew what they were going to do before they even started.  Legolas bit his tongue in order to keep from yelling anything at the orcs he might regret. He wasn't as familiar with the creatures as Elladan and Elrohir were, but he knew that their weapons were usually coated with a blood thinning poison that killed their prey faster. If it was inflicted upon Elrohir... Well, Legolas just hoped that Elladan would return with help soon.

Elrohir tried resisting as best he could, but the air in his lungs was quickly dispelled as he got struck in the chest with a mace. Legolas winced as he could tell his dear friend was having trouble collecting his breath, and didn't doubt that he now had some broken or at least bruised ribs. That had to hurt.

He couldn't watch any further. He hated seeing anyone in pain or being tortured, whether it was an injured deer to even a human. And this happening to someone he cared about was something he definitely couldn't take any more of.

His eyes squeezed shut after hearing the first scream.